An extreme lake-effect snowstorm is pummeling the eastern shores of Lake Erie, dumping narrow bands of “paralyzing” snowfall around Buffalo. Some areas reported nearly 40 inches of accumulation by late Friday morning, and deteriorating conditions prompted outright bans on travel in the hardest-hit areas, where meteorologists predict as much as 5 feet of snowfall before precipitation subsides sometime Sunday.
The lake-effect snow bands — which develop when frigid, dry air moves over relatively warmer waters — formed Thursday night and quickly intensified, cranking out snowfall rates of up to 3 inches an hour, as well as thunder, lightning, strong winds and near-blizzard conditions. More modest lake-effect snowfall was reported on the eastern banks of Lake Ontario, with as much as 10.7 inches reported since Thursday afternoon.
In Hamburg, N.Y., 12 miles south of Buffalo, up to 5 inches fell within a single hour early Friday. The National Weather Service reported that 37 inches had fallen there by 10 a.m., while Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel meteorologist known for following the most extreme conditions, measured 32 inches there.
Within the heaviest snow bands, “travel will be very difficult to impossible,” warned the National Weather Service in Buffalo. It previously described the ongoing storm as “crippling” and “paralyzing” in online technical forecast discussions.
Though lake-effect snow is common in western New York this time of year, the amount of snow expected to fall and the intensity of the precipitation means the Weather Service considers the storm to be “extreme.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared a state of emergency for the region effective Thursday morning, and Buffalo schools announced they would be closed Friday.
Local authorities banned travel on roads across southern portions of Buffalo and communities to the immediate east and south.
Lake-effect snow warnings remain in effect through at least early Saturday in areas that are expected to remain downwind of Lake Erie, with winter storm watches continuing into Sunday. In areas farther from the lakes and the snow bands’ expected path, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories were in effect because there is less confidence about how much snow the bands — which will waver north and south a bit because of subtle shifts in wind direction — will drop.
