Residents of Buffalo and other parts of New York state woke up Friday morning to heavy snowfall that officials warned could “paralyze” the hardest-hit communities.
As of Friday morning, Erie County, where Buffalo is located, had 3 feet of snow in areas like Orchard Park, 33 inches of snow in Hamburg and about 19.5 inches in southeast Buffalo.
The “historic” winter storm brought what’s known as lake-effect snow, which occurs when arctic air races across the relatively milder waters of the Great Lakes.
The snow effect along Lake Erie has been extreme since Friday, with snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and heavy “thundersnow,” which occurs when there is thunder along with snowfall.
The heavy snowfall is expected to lead to “near zero visibility, near-impossible travel and infrastructure damage,” the National Weather Service warned early Friday morning.
A person crosses Ellicott Street as snow falls in Buffalo, New York, on Friday. Joshua Besex / AP
Snow began falling Thursday and continued overnight, threatening to leave Buffalo buried in more than 4 feet of “historic snowfall,” the service said in an update Friday morning.
“Very cold air will accompany this event with temperatures 20 degrees below normal forecast through this weekend,” he warned after Buffalo saw temperatures in the 60s last week.
Buffalo declared a state of emergency, while Gov. Kathy Hochul did the same for 11 counties in the western and northwestern parts of the state near Lakes Erie and Ontario.
“This is a life-threatening storm,” she said at a news conference Thursday, adding that state officials were ready to conduct rescue operations.
Erie County has issued a driving ban, including south Buffalo, according to a tweet from Erie County Executive Mark Poloncartz.
“Conditions in the exclusion zone are BAD,” Poloncarz said. “Don’t drive. This is hindering our efforts to clear the snow.”
“Only those authorized for emergency travel should drive,” County Superintendent Mark Poloncartz tweeted Thursday, noting the ban would be reviewed Friday.
Commercial traffic was banned on parts of some major roads, including New York State Highway, also known as Interstate 90. Meanwhile, Sunday’s NFL game between the home team, the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns, was moved to Detroit.
As the planet warms from increasing greenhouse gases, the lakes also warm, meaning more evaporation into the atmosphere in the winter. This has led to an increase in lake effect snow, but this trend is not expected to continue.
A recent study used a regional climate model to examine these changes in lake effect snow if current rates of greenhouse gas emissions continue. By mid-century, the amount of seasonal lake-effect snow is expected to increase moderately as the Great Lakes remain ice-free longer in the winter.
However, as the air warms, snowfall amounts during the transition seasons of late fall and early spring are expected to decrease, with most of the precipitation falling as rain. By the end of the century, the frequency of extreme cold events over the Great Lakes is expected to decrease significantly. Likewise, lake temperatures are expected to rise further, with a warming environment implying increased rain at the expense of winter snow.
Lake-effect snow warnings were in effect early Friday for the Buffalo area and in windward areas of Lake Ontario, the weather service said.
Chantal Da Silva is the breaking news editor for NBC News Digital based in London.
Catherine Request
Katherine Prosiv is a senior meteorologist and producer for NBC News.
Mirna Alsharif is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.
Phil Helsel and Brittany Kubico contributed.
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