Buffalo residents dig out from dangerous snow in New York
Carolyn Thompson/AP
Zaria Black, 24, from Buffalo, clears off her car as snow falls Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York, with nearly 2 feet of snow already on the ground in some places and possibly much more on the way. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Martin Haslinger uses a snowblower outside his home in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 following a lake-effect snowstorm. Residents of northern New York state are digging out from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped nearly 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused three deaths. The Buffalo metro area was hit hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet by early Saturday. (Bridget Haslinger via AP)
Snow covers the ground in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. Residents of northern New York state are digging out from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped nearly 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused three deaths. The Buffalo metro area was hit hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet by early Saturday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)
A person walks through downtown in the snow Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York, with nearly 2 feet of snow already on the ground in some places and possibly much more on the way. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Dark clouds hover over water shining under a shaft of sunlight at Erie Basin Marina at about 11:30 a.m., in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. (Libby March/The Buffalo News via AP)
Cars covered in snow are seen downtown Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York, with nearly 2 feet of snow already on the ground in some places and possibly much more on the way. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
A man uses a snowblower to clear the sidewalk outside the Durham Memorial A.M.E Zion Church on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York, with nearly 2 feet of snow already on the ground in some places and possibly much more on the way. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
A car sits in a snowdrift Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York, with nearly 2 feet of snow already on the ground in some places and possibly much more on the way. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Snow removed from the street in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. Residents of northern New York state are digging out from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped nearly 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused three deaths. The Buffalo metro area was hit hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet by early Saturday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)
Snow covers the ground in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. Residents of northern New York state are digging out from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped nearly 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused three deaths. The Buffalo metro area was hit hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet by early Saturday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)
Snow piles up on bird feeders outside a home in Orchard Park, N.Y. on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Residents of northern New York state are digging out from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped nearly 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused three deaths. The Buffalo metro area was hit hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet by early Saturday. (Marie Pytlak via AP)
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Residents of northern New York state were digging out Saturday morning from a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm that had dropped more than 6 feet of snow in some areas and caused several deaths.
The Buffalo metro area was hit particularly hard, with some areas south of the city receiving more than 5 feet of snow by early Saturday. According to the National Weather Service, the suburb of Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, reported 77 inches by early Saturday. About 80 miles northeast of the city, the town of Natural Bridge, near the Fort Drum Army base, reported just under 6 feet.
The inundation forced the National Football League to move Sunday’s game between the Bills and Cleveland Browns to Detroit. The team released images of Highmark Stadium covered in snow, with show seats, stairs and the field itself whited out.
Schools, businesses and highways were closed Friday in anticipation for the incoming storm. The Buffalo Airport runways, which had been temporarily closed because of the snow, reopened Saturday morning, according to a tweet.
The National Weather Service predicted partial sunshine and a break from the snow on Saturday in New York, but not for long.
“Later on this evening and through early next week, we’re expecting another round of lake-effect snow for much of western New York,” National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor told The Associated Press. Taylor, based in College Park, Maryland, said that could produce as much as 15 inches of snow for areas near Lake Erie and 2 feet for areas near Lake Ontario.
In the Buffalo area, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted that two people died “associated with cardiac events related to exertion during shoveling/snow blowing.” A third person — a snowplow driver in the town of Hamlet, Indiana — was killed Friday when his plow slid off the pavement and rolled over, the Starke County Sheriff’s Department said. Hamlet is about 30 miles from Lake Michigan.
The storm’s effects varied widely in the region due to the peculiarities of lake-effect storms, which are caused by frigid winds picking up moisture from warmer lakes and dumping snow in narrow bands. Some areas of Buffalo were battered by blowing, heavy snow off Lake Erie while mere miles away, residents only had to contend with a few inches.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Thursday for parts of western New York, including communities along the eastern ends of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The declaration covers 11 counties, with all vehicles banned from a stretch of Interstate 90.
“I want to thank (Hochul) for activating the National Guard to help with our emergency response in Hamburg, Orchard Park and Evans,” Poloncarz wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.
Hochul’s office told WIVB 69 members of the National Guard are currently deployed as part of the snowstorm efforts.
Buffalo has experienced dramatic lake-effect snowstorms, few worse than the one that struck in November 2014. That epic storm dumped 7 feet of snow on some communities over three days, collapsing roofs and trapping motorists in more than 100 vehicles on a lakeside stretch of the New York State Thruway.
NewsNation local affiliate WIVB contributed to this story.
