Snowstorm in New York

Second Round of Lake-Effect Snow to Bury Upstate New York Further

Accuweather,

19 November, 2014

After a pause in the lake-effect snow on Wednesday, more bands of heavy snow will set up downwind of the Great Lakes, including northern and western upstate New York, later this week.

A weak disturbance that passed over the Great Lakes on Wednesday brought a general light snowfall to the region, but caused a lull heavy lake-effect snow.

However, lake-effect snow will re-energize Wednesday night into Thursday and will continue into Friday. Areas that will be hit by heavy snow include western New York, the Tug Hill Plateau of New York and western and northern Michigan.

Some areas that were hit with 3-6 feet of snow on Tuesday will soon be blanketed with another 1-2 feet of snow with locally higher amounts.

The redevelopment of these intense snow bands will mean more dangerous conditions and travel restrictions through the end of the week.

According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "While the second round of lake-effect snow may be not be as long-lasting, nor as intense, winds may be much stronger this time."

The combination of low temperatures, wind, snow and other atmospheric conditions will send AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures to near zero F at times.

Even in areas where snow removal has taken place, intersections may be dangerous due to the high piles of snow at the corners and along sides of roads

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Total snowfall from lake effect this week may top 8 feet in some areas south of Buffalo, with mountainous drifts. Some drifts may reach the top of one and two story buildings.

Due to the magnitude of the prior snow, some roads, streets and parking lots may not be cleared for days. The snow may have to be trucked away and dumped, which can be a slow process.

The risk of snow will to come to an end as the weekend arrives. Warmer winds from the south will send temperatures into the 50s and 60s, as a rainstorm approaches. However, new risks will arise.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffy, "The combination of the warmth and rain will bring tremendous snow melt."

"Flooding will certainly be a concern."

Home owners should be on alert as basements may take on water from the quickly melting snow. Water may pool on streets and roadways, due to blocked storm drains.

On flat roofs, as the snow gains weight from the rain and drains remained blocked, there will be an increasing risk of roof collapses.

Property owners may want to move some of the snow off roofs, if it can be done safely.

New York snowstorm kills at least five as freezing temperatures grip US

Storm blamed for at least five deaths in New York, New Hampshire and Michigan as temperatures plunge

The Guardian,

19 November, 2014

A brutal storm of ice, snow and record cold temperatures has killed at least five people near Buffalo, New York, as a system of freezing temperatures and heavy precipitation swept toward the US east coast.

The early snowfall heaped five feet of snow in some areas, trapping cars, buses and plows in heavy drifts. Snow totals could exceed 6ft by the end of Wednesday – with another storm expected on Thursday.

Response teams in western New York, accustomed to harsh winters, were surprised by the unusually early and heavy precipitation. Schools closed as New York governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in several counties and has 150 members of the state national guard and extra teams of snow plows.

High winds have exacerbated conditions, and temperatures dropped below 

freezing across most of the US, with subzero temperatures in Illinois, Wisconsin and Nebraska, where a teenager died from exposure. In the Buffalo area, two people shoveling snow during the storm died of heart attacks, a third was pinned beneath a car while trying to free it, a fourth found inside his car, and a fifth also suffered a heart attack.

Firefighters help a stranded motorist in Depew, New York. Photograph: Derek Gee/AP

Snow drifts and ice have paralyzed more than 150 vehicles on on more than 100 miles of roadway, including the Niagara University women’s basketball team, trapped on board their bus for more than 24 hours. The team coach told the Associated Press that players were so thirsty they drank melted snow. Traffic accidents blamed on icy conditions have killed more than a dozen people.

Weather experts blame a phenomenon called the lake effect for the exceptionally intense storm; cold winds pick up the warm, moist air over lakes, freezing it as it travels before dumping it suddenly when those winds reach land. Nestled on Lake Erie’s shores and not far from Lake Ontario, Buffalo was struck by a curiosity of the effect – snow buried its southern suburbs but barely dusted its northern outskirts.

The huge system dropped as much of 18 inches in Michigan, shut down schools in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and forced roads closed in Indiana, New Hampshire and around the US. Cities in Alaska may be warmer than towns in northern Florida on Wednesday if temperatures rise as expected. Through Friday, Buffalo will have to soldier through two separate lake effect warnings, and possibly as much as two more feet of snow as storm bands sweep in.

Amazing photo from Chrissy Gritzke Hazard in Cheektowaga, NY where the weight of the snow is so much it is beginning to collapse roofs and break through doors like this picture shows. Historic snow for that area....some are closing in on 60-70 inches! After a break for some of the hardest hit areas today, another 1-2 feet is possible tomorrow as the lake effect snow band shifts again

The whole situation