Lake-Effect Snow Pummels Great Lakes States; Four Storm-Related Deaths, Around 140 Vehicles Stranded

November 18,2014




 
An Arctic blast set off a major lake-effect snowstorm across the Great Lakes, dumping feet of snow on parts of western and central New York and additional snow on northwest Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, northern and western Michigan and far northern Wisconsin.
"By the time all is said and done, parts of Upstate New York could be buried in over 5 feet of new snow," said weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
Particularly south of Buffalo, New York, where up to five feet of snow has already been measured in Lancaster, New York.
At least four storm-related deaths were reported in Erie County Tuesday night in a statement by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. One person died while pushing a vehicle, and the three other deaths are possibly due to cardiac complications, WBFO reports.
Road closures are being reported all across the region. A stretch of I-90 over 100 miles long from Rochester, New York, to the Pennsylvania State Line is shutdown due to white-out conditions. Around 140 vehicles are reportedly stranded on the road, according to Poloncarz. Snow was so heavy in some places that even snow plows were getting stuck. In West Seneca, New York, 10 of the city's 22 snow plows were reportedly stuck out on roads.
Tuesday night, Amtrak released a statement suspending service between Albany, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and Cleveland, Ohio, until Wednesday afternoon.
Officials in Erie County, New York, declared a state of emergency due to impossible driving conditions. Travel bans were also in place across the area to prevent additional people from getting stuck in the snow.
The snow's effects reached such an extent that New York Gov. Cuomo deployed the National Guard.
“We are deploying the National Guard to ramp up efforts to keep Western New York residents safe and to assist storm recovery efforts in any way possible," Cuomo said Tuesday.
School closures were reported from western Michigan to western New York Tuesday due to the lake-effect snow event. Traffic accidents were also adding up, prompting the closure of roads in Michigan, Indiana and New York.
Here are state-by-state impacts from the storm:
(MORE: Lake-Effect Snow Forecast)

New York

South Buffalo took the brunt of the lake-effect event overnight well into the afternoon Tuesday. According to The Buffalo News, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz declared a state of emergency for all areas of Erie County most impacted by the heavy snow. The state of emergency imposes travel bans in the areas, and includes the communities of South Buffalo, Lackawanna, Hamburg, Lancaster and West Seneca, amongst others.
There have been reports of four fatalities in Erie County - one death involving a vehicle, while it's believed the three others were cardiac complications.
Roads have all but shutdown in the area, including a 132-mile-long stretch of The Thruway (I-90) from Exit 46 in Rochester, New York, to Exit 61 on the Pennsylvania State Line, according to The Thruway Authority. The New York State Department of Transportation urged people to stay off roads in western New York, as white-out conditions made travel impossible across a large area of the region.
More than a hundred vehicles are reportedly stranded across highways in south Buffalo. The New York State Police estimates that 120 vehicles are stranded around the Lackawana Toll barrier on The Thruway since midnight.
The Buffalo News has a great map of the location of vehicles stuck on I-90.
According to NYSEG, over 5,000 customers are without power in Chemung, Erie, and Wyoming Counties.
(MORE: New York's Travel Nightmare)
Ten of West Seneca's 22 snow plows were stuck in heavy snow Tuesday morning, according to The Buffalo News. That prompted West Seneca transportation officials to call the lake-effect snow one of the worst they've ever seen, the paper reports.
WIVB reports that 24 members of the Niagara University Women's Basketball team have been stuck on a bus on I-90 for hours.
Emergency vehicles weren't immune to transportation woes. Plows were being sent to free police cars in Hamburg, New York, and fire trucks and ambulances reported problems traversing snow covered roads in South Buffalo, The Buffalo News reports.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent 10 snowmobiles to help assist in South Buffalo emergency personnel whose vehicles might otherwise be stuck.
Hundreds of businesses, schools and government offices all closed Tuesday because of snow. Buffalo International Airport canceled or delayed dozens of flights Tuesday morning. Click here to check the status of departures. Click here to check the status of arrivals. Many Niagara Frontier Transportation bus routes were scrapped as well.

Michigan

Western Michigan saw significant snowfall throughout Tuesday. According to WoodTV, there were more than 400 closures Tuesday morning in western Michigan, including Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
In Kent County, Michigan, 90 plows were working to keep snow from piling up on roads, but Jerry Byrne, the county's road maintenance director, urged drivers to use caution if they absolutely had to travel as road salt would likely be ineffective on most roads due to exceptional snowfall rates, MLive reports. A crash involving at least 11 vehicles closed all lanes of US-131 between Cedar Springs and Rockford for two hours as crews cleared the accident, Michigan, WoodTV reports.
The Associated Press reports that there have been dozens of crashes across Michigan highways, including two semi-trucks that flipped over on eastbound I-94.
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, residents had to wait for their garbage to be picked up because the city diverted its resources to its plows. According to WoodTV, Grand Rapids City Manager Greg Sundstrom had the entire snow plow fleet "working around the clock."
Snow also canceled and delayed flights at Gerald R. Ford airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tuesday morning. For a full list of delays and cancelations at the airport, click here.
(MORE: Half of the U.S. Covered in Snow)

Indiana

Lake-effect snow led to dangerous conditions on the U.S. 20 Bypass near South Bend, Indiana. The St. Joseph County, Indiana, Police Department said there were multiple crashes on the road this morning that forced the closure of eastbound lanes near S.R. 2, WSBTV reports.
Three people suffered injuries when their vehicles collided on the Bypass. Three firefighters responding to the crash were injured when a semi-truck collided with the fire engine on the Bypass. The firefighters were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
Schools across northwestern Indiana closed or delayed due to the weather. For a full list of school, business and government office closures and delays, visit WSBTV by clicking here.

Pennsylvania

Snow is falling in much of northwestern Pennsylvania, with more than a foot forecast in some areas by late Tuesday and rain expected to turn to snow in Pittsburgh and points further south as temperatures were expected to fall throughout the day.
GoErie.com reports that an emergency warming shelter opened Monday night to shelter Eerie, Pennsylvania, homeless from the frigid weather and snow.