Whew! Snow report from western NY.
The initial bands of lake effect snow mostly affected communities directly on the Lake Erie shoreline from Cleveland to Buffalo. Erie, PA and some satellite towns south of Buffalo got hit the hardest on Black Friday and Saturday. Those satellite towns are near Buffalo, but not close enough to call them suburbs.
But, Buffalo? Not so much. Just 20 to 30 inches over a couple days.
In my area, near Buffalo but farther inland, the snowfall on Friday and Saturday looked pretty ordinary, thick at times, but only a few inches accumulated in my city and one to two feet in some places outside of town.
BUT -- Before dawn Monday morning those lake effect bands blew into my region and only stopped about 90 minutes ago. For 30 hours we had nonstop, very thick snow squalls. Normally from my upper level apartment, my window view extends for 10 city blocks. During those squalls, visibility was limited to half a block. Could not even see the streetlights through the snowfall beyond the ones a few yards from my building. Occasionally the thickness let up a little, but the snowfall continued.
All schools and social activities throughout my county, a bordering county, and half of another bordering county shut down. Small businesses and stores closed down but larger chain stores stayed open with whatever staff made it in to work. Colleges and universities in 2 1/2 counties closed down and went to online classes.
A woman and her husband who were driving from Rochester, NY to Cleveland, Ohio for her heart transplant operation got stuck in the snowstorm. They called ahead to the Cleveland Clinic to explain their delay. Cleveland contacted local first responders who searched and found the couple. They took them to the nearest city where they got a flight to Cleveland.
A barn collapsed from the snow, killing 5 dairy cows. First responders in the area dug out the remaining animals in the barn and they survived.
That latest lake effect band was widespread. It also hit shoreline cities like Erie, which had already accumulated 4 feet of snow.
The sky will stay clear here for the next few hours according to forecasts, but a few more inches of snow are expected later this evening.
The lake effect storms are now officially over.
BUT -- A new forecast warning is out now for a different storm system from Canada that will last through Wednesday and Thursday, with accompanying high winds. The one good thing about the lake effect system just ended is that there was little wind, just a few gusts around 20 mph.
This new system from Canada will affect a wider area, from Michigan across the lakes to include our region, again.
During a break in the snowfall intensity Monday evening, I walked 5 blocks to a 7/11. The snow fell very lightly during that period. (I was well bundled up.) Plows were clearing the streets and snowblowers were clearing the sidewalks so the walk was not difficult. The scene, with the city, business, and residential Christmas decorations was beautiful. Snow draping over lights, even traffic lights, gave them a soft, luminous glow. Packed down snow from the few who, like me, ventured out on foot, made it feel like I was walking on thick beds of cotton.
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