‘It just keeps coming and coming’: Heavy lake-effect snow dumps more than 5 feet over parts of Great Lakes region
By Ashley R. Williams, Sarah Dewberry, Zenebou Sylla, Dakin Andone and Amanda Jackson, CNN
(CNN) — As biting cold temperatures sweep across a large swath of the US, parts of the Great Lakes face more than a foot of additional lake-effect snow through Tuesday – the latest complication for cities already blanketed by snowfall amid post-Thanksgiving travel.
More than 5 feet of snow fell on parts of western New York the last few days, according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, with some places exceeding the 4-foot mark Sunday. Barnes Corners, New York, saw 65.5 inches – over 5 feet – by Monday morning, according to the weather service.
Lake-effect warnings for parts of western New York, northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania are in effect into Tuesday.
The cold will persist, as nearly 70% of the continental US will feel the chill of temperatures below 32 degrees over the next few days. Some cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati, will experience below-average temperatures for the entire week.
Homeowners in Erie, Pennsylvania, shoveled large piles of snow and used snowblowers to clear the mounds from their driveways and walkways Saturday, according to footage from CNN affiliate WICU.
“Yesterday, I shoveled for four hours and today I’ve been here for about an hour,” Erie resident and native Richard Korytowski told WICU as he dug out his driveway.
“I expected to shovel,” he said, “but not this much.”
Lake-effect snow occurs when cold, wind-driven air flows across a not-so-cold lake – in this case, the Great Lakes, where the water is at a record warmth.
In Erie, treacherous conditions on Sunday caused some of the city’s plow drivers to get stuck while removing snow, city officials said on Facebook.
Eleven counties across western and central New York are under a state of emergency order Gov. Kathy Hochul issued Friday. The declaration includes Erie County, where Amherst officials on Saturday issued a code blue alert, inviting anyone in need of shelter from the extreme cold to call for help.
“My administration is working around the clock to respond to the snowstorm in Western New York and the North Country,” Hochul said on X Saturday. “Our state agencies and over 100 National Guard members are on the ground to support storm operations.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also called in his state’s National Guard on Saturday to assist stranded motorists and ensure emergency responders can reach anyone trapped, he said on X.
Pennsylvania State Police responded to nearly 200 road incidents over a 24-hour period on Friday and Saturday, according to Shapiro’s office.
The winter weather came as millions of Thanksgiving revelers across the country traveled home from the holiday weekend. Postholiday travel was “very difficult to impossible” for some motorists, with forecasters urging people to stay off the roads as whiteout conditions make driving “treacherous and potentially dangerous,” according to the National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York.
Road conditions in western New York quickly deteriorated from Adams to Watertown in Jefferson County on Sunday. Janelle Kriegbaum told CNN her family was traveling back home from her son’s hockey tournament and had to wade through several feet of snow to reach their front door.
“It took my husband over two hours to clear the driveway with his snowblower, and we have a very small driveway,” Kriegbaum said.
The outbreak of Arctic chill diving southward out of Canada is causing temperatures in much of the eastern half of the US to fall as much as 15 degrees to 25 degrees below average, which will persist through the middle of next week, forecasters said.
The Weather Prediction Center called for temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below average Monday, from the Northern Plains into the Ohio Valley, “spreading farther southeast along much of the east coast by Monday.”
Wind off the lakes could dump another foot or 2 of snow
Through Monday, an additional foot-plus of snow could fall in parts of Pennsylvania, northern Ohio and western New York.
“The heaviest snow totals are expected downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting areas from northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania, western New York state and portions of northwest New York state,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.
North East, Pennsylvania, a borough in Erie County, recorded just over 42 inches of snow between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon while Erie, Pennsylvania, received 31 inches.
In Ashtabula County, Ohio, resident Ashley Drew shared footage of a Conneaut home vanishing into a blanket of heavy snow Saturday, with its blue front door just partially visible as snow continued to fall.
Parts of the county, which sits on Lake Erie, have seen about 40 inches of snowfall and it could see between 12 and 21 inches more through Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
Cars and roadways nearly disappeared under snowfall in Painesville, Ohio, near Lake Erie on Sunday. Cameo DiChiara told CNN her car battery died, leaving her stuck at home.
“Due to the amount of snow I am unable to travel, I’m practically buried in my house,” DiChiara said, adding she has enough supplies for now.
Kathy Davis, a resident of Tug Hill in northern New York, described Saturday’s heavy snow as a “good old-fashioned winter,” in a video clip she shared with CNN affiliate WWNY.
“This is what I remember as a kid,” Davis said, according to WWNY. “It just keeps coming and coming.”
Forecasters warn of difficult travel, whiteout conditions
Highway traffic cameras showed snowy conditions over the highway in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York over the weekend.
Sima Merick, executive director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, warned drivers of poor visibility in a post on X.
“If you must travel, use extreme caution and give the plow driver’s plenty of room so they can do their job safely,” Merick wrote Sunday evening.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation closed several roads in Erie County while officials continued cleanup efforts. The department reduced the speed limit to 45 miles per hour on parts of I-86 and I-90 in Erie County, while other roadways remain closed to certain types of vehicles, including school buses, tractors and motorcycles.
“Stay home, stay in place, stay safe. Only travel when necessary,” Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said at a news conference Sunday, where he described the storm as a “snowmageddon event.”
In Ohio, several roadways were closed due to debris, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation, and officials urged drivers to move carefully on slippery, snowy roads.
New York state Department of Transportation crews worked overnight to clear roadways in Chautauqua County and Jefferson County covered by heavy snow, where motorists have also been asked to stay home to give crews room to work. A ban on commercial vehicles on portions of I-90 in New York was lifted early Monday.
New York State Police helped at least 110 disabled vehicles from parts of western New York to the Pennsylvania state line between Thanksgiving and Sunday, officials said in a news release.
Two of the travelers needing help in the area were a man and his 64-year-old wife who were driving Friday for her heart transplant procedure when they became stranded in the snowstorm, according to the release.
Troopers helped get the woman to an airport away from the storm and she was flown to receive her transplant, officials said.
In the Buffalo area, the National Weather Service had an urgent message Saturday: “Delay all travel. If you must travel, drive with extreme caution.” The Buffalo region’s lake-effect snow warning continues through Monday night.
Meanwhile, with snow still falling, the Buffalo Bills’ home game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night began as scheduled after crews and volunteers earlier assisted with removing snow from the field at the open-air Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
The Bills on Friday began requesting help from fans to clear the field of snow ahead of game time. Workers had plenty of snow to shovel, with 24.3 inches having hit the ground by Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
The wind chill in the Buffalo area Sunday evening was in the low 20s, according to the weather service.
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Gene Norman, Allison Chinchar, Elisa Raffa, Robert Shackelford, Steve Almasy, Artemis Moshtaghian, Taylor Galgano and Sam Joseph contributed to this report.
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