Major snowfall blankets western New York
November 20, 2022
Vast snowfall of almost 2 meters (more than 6 feet) in places has caused restrictions to road travel, flight cancellations and forced professional sports events to relocate in the Buffalo area in New York state near the border with Canada.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called in some 70 National Guard personnel to help with snow removal in the worst-hit parts of Erie Country.
Orchard Park, where the NFL American football team the Buffalo Bills play, in Erie County recorded 77 inches (around 196 centimeters) of snow.
Buffalo saw daily record snowfall of more than 16 inches, topping the one-day record of 7.6 inches recorded in 2014, the National Weather Service said on Saturday.
The lake-effect snowstorm began around Lakes Erie and Ontario late on Thursday, still a month before the official start of winter. There was a slight respite in the snowfall on Saturday, but the conditions could persist through Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Lake-effect snow is a phenomenon when cold air blows across a large unfrozen lake that is relatively warm; this heats the cold air from below and causes heavy localized snowfalls.
Flights canceled, highways closed, games relocated
The Buffalo Niagara International Airport, named after the famous Niagara Falls nearby, canceled a series of flights on Saturday.
Part of Interstate 90 was closed, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz expressed frustration on Twitter at reports of trucks getting stuck on smaller roads as they tried to get around the I-90 detour. A video posted online showed a line of trucks backed up on a street in Orchard Park.
Two people died of cardiac arrest while shoveling snow. One snowplow driver was killed in a crash.
"This has been a very unpredictable storm with the snow bands moving, back and forth, north to south," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told CNN. "The snow has come down very fast, very wet, very heavy."
Buffalo is the second-largest city in New York state, with a population of around 275,000, on the border to Canada near Toronto.
The National Football League on Friday announced that Sunday's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns would be moved to Detroit. By Saturday evening, despite the relocation, the game had sold out.
msh/wmr (AP, Reuters)