A blast of arctic air will give the central US a taste of mid-winter cold. Accuweather, Accuweather A lake-effect blizzard dumped several inches of snow on western New York early Friday, with totals expected to reach 4 feet by Sunday in Buffalo. Eleven counties remained under a state of emergency Friday morning as a heavy band of snow lashed the region. The New York state Twitter account shared a photo of a yardstick buried in 19 inches of snow in South Cheektowaga west of Buffalo just before sunrise. “Continue to stay off the roads and stay safe,” the tweet read. Weather Channel meteorologist and storm chaser Jim Cantore, who was in the Buffalo area on Friday, tweeted a photo of a gauge showing 32 inches of snow “and counting” for nearby Hamburg, New York. “Whether the city of Buffalo gets 4 feet or not is irrelevant,” noted Erie County Executive meteorologist Mark Poloncarz said Thursday. “You will get something. I mean, Erie is going to crash, as we know.” Snowfall totals were expected to vary widely due to the characteristics of lake-induced snow, which is caused by frozen air picking up copious amounts of moisture from warmer lakes. Here’s what you need to know about the blizzard:
How Much Snow Does Buffalo Get?
Southern Buffalo was seeing snowfall rates of up to 5 inches per hour Friday in the heaviest part of the snow belt, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Walker. The storm dumped at least 2 feet of snow across Hamburg, Orchard Park and West Seneca south of Buffalo early Friday, NWS Buffalo meteorologist Liz Jurkowski said. “The snow is still going. We still have a lot of time,” he said Friday morning. At Buffalo Niagara International Airport, where scheduled arrival and departure flights were canceled, the NWS observed 13 inches of snow Friday morning. A trained meteorologist observed 48 inches of snow Friday afternoon in Blasdell about 9 miles south of Buffalo, the NWS said.
Thundersnow hits Buffalo as lake snow warning continues
Thundersnow, which occurs when a storm drops snow instead of rain, was reported overnight Thursday in Buffalo for several hours, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS said thundersnow will continue Friday. The heavy, wet snow brought down trees and caused isolated power outages in the Buffalo area, Poloncarz said. WHAT IS THUNDERSNOW? Explaining how a storm can produce snow Meanwhile, a lake snow warning continued Friday across Erie County. “The biggest problems with lake-induced snow is that it builds up on roofs and can cause them to collapse under the weight of the snow, not to mention losing power,” Walker told USA TODAY. The warning was expected to change to a winter storm for southern Erie County by Saturday, Jurkowski said. “When the snow band moves up into Niagara County on Saturday, it will move back south Saturday night, so when it falls, there’s a chance of up to 9 more inches (of snow),” Jurkowski said. SNOW ON LAKE EXPLANATION: How it happens and how much snow it can bring
Buffalo travel ban in effect in some areas amid ‘treacherous’ driving conditions
Erie County on Thursday issued a travel ban for non-emergency vehicles. On Friday, it was downgraded to a travel advisory for Buffalo, though the ban remained in effect for other areas of the county, Poloncarz said. “The roads are slick and snow covered, and in that zone, there’s zero visibility,” Jurkowski told USA TODAY. “There are winds that are helping to blow around, limiting visibility,” said Jurkowski, who called current driving conditions in the Buffalo area “treacherous and horrible.” Several roads were closed, including parts of the New York State Thruway, due to hazardous conditions. The Hamburg area of Erie County said drivers were stuck on “very dangerous” roads as several plow drivers worked to clear the snow.
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This weekend’s snow forecast for Buffalo
Lake snow and heavy rain were expected to continue into Friday night and late Saturday, Walker said. “There could be some shifting of those bands, so it’s not going to be the same place that’s going to find it all the time, but it looks like there’s still going to be some bands of snow coming off the lake tomorrow into Sunday,” Walker said. he said. Snowfall amounts are expected to reach 4 feet, according to the NWS. “We’re still on track for that,” Jurkowski said. Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, Democrat and Chronicle, The Associated Press
