I cannot believe that I lived in Buffalo, New York for 5 years. I graduated from high school at Kenmore West Sr. High School and used to have to get up 2 hours early in the Winter just to shovel my way out the front door and get down the driveway. All I can say about this is IT IS THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER!!!
BUFFALO, N.Y. An early October
snowstorm left parts of western New York blanketed with 2 feet of snow
this morning, prompting widespread blackouts, closing schools and
halting traffic.
The snow downed scores of tree limbs and toppled power lines, leaving more than 155,000 customers without electricity.
By early today, 14 inches of snow had been recorded at the Buffalo
Niagara International Airport, with reports of 2 feet elsewhere, said
Tom Paone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The
snowfall was expected to continue throughout the morning, he said.
On Thursday, 8.3 inches of heavy snow set the record for the "snowiest"
October day in Buffalo in the 137-year history of the weather service,
said meteorologist Tom Niziol. The previous record of 6 inches was set
Oct. 31, 1917.
"This is an extremely rare event for this early in the season," Niziol said.
The Buffalo Police Department received more than 3,000 calls late
Thursday and about two-thirds were related to the weather, Lt. James
Watkins said.
"There are power lines going down all over the place," he said.
Crews worked into the night to restore power, but many customers were
expected to remain in the dark through the weekend and into next week,
National Grid energy company spokesman Steve Brady said.
"This is extremely heavy snow and most of the trees still have most of
their leaves, he said. "We can't do a complete damage assessment until
the snow stops falling."
Dozens of schools were closed and states of emergency were declared in
the City of Tonawanda, and towns of Cheektowaga, Elma, Lancaster, Akron
and Depew.
Unnecessary driving was banned in Buffalo and suburbs Amherst, Blasdell, Orchard Park and Hamburg.
"We have a condition where 80 percent of the roads are impassable," said Lt. Stephen McGonagle of the Amherst Police Department.
Officials said the snowstorm caused flight delays and cancellations at
Buffalo's airport, which was shut down for almost two hours late
Thursday.
Meanwhile, tree branches were strewn across the roads around the
region. A large box maple tree split in half, falling on Joan Casey's
home in Buffalo.
"The whole house shook," Casey said. "We were very afraid. Originally I
thought it was just the thunder, and then I came outside and I couldn't
believe it."
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