TRAPPED IN A DEEP FREEZE Deadly snowfall buries Buffalo as cold blankets parts of all 50 states
So called “global warming” sure is freezing cold. Deadly snowstorms and record cold slam the upper third of the US, including a lake-effect blizzard, above, that moved across Lake Erie and buried Buffalo under 6 feet of snow, as freezing temperatures are recorded in all 50 states, with more snow expected tomorrow — and winter is still a month away.
Temperatures in all 50 states plunged to the freezing point or below Tuesday as a ferocious storm dumped piles of snow on upstate New York, trapping residents in their homes and stranding motorists on roadways.
Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard Tuesday as more than 4 feet fell in parts of the city. Authorities said snow totals by Wednesday afternoon could top 6 feet in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another storm expected Thursday.
From Hawaii to the Carolinas, Americans shivered as racing winds and icy roads caused accidents, school closings and delays in municipal operations from the Midwest to the South even where snowfall was low or mercifully absent.
The storm was blamed for at least six deaths in New York, New Hampshire and Michigan.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the online site Weather Underground, told The Associated Press that the low temperatures are January-like instead of what’s normal for November. Masters said temperatures were 15 to 35 degrees below average over much of the country due to the presence of arctic air.
In New York, the snowstorm forced motorists in 150 vehicles, including a women’s basketball team, to ride out the onslaught in their vehicles. They waited for hours to be freed, with some waiting more than a day. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo deployed 150 members of the National Guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles.
By early Wednesday, a Thruway official said most but not all passenger vehicles had been cleared.
Members of the Niagara University women’s basketball team were napping on and off 17 hours into their wait on Tuesday night. Some got so thirsty they drank melted snow, said Coach Kendra Faustin, who was traveling with her 1-year-old.
“It seemed like a nightmare. It just didn’t feel like it was going to end,” Bryce Foreback, 23, of Shicora, Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press by cellphone 20 hours into his wait for help. “I haven’t slept in like 30 hours and I’m just waiting to get out of here.”
Foreback had become stuck in a long line of cars near the Lackawanna toll booths just south of Buffalo about 10:30 Monday night.
Troopers used all-terrain vehicles to deliver supplies, state police Capt. Ed Kennedy said. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said about 140 motorists were stranded. Many chose to stay with their cars, while others left them, he said.
“Other than wishing they weren’t stuck in traffic, they’re warm and safe in their vehicles,” Kennedy said.
The lake-effect snow created a stark divide: In downtown Buffalo and north of the city, there was a mere dusting of precipitation, while in the south parts, snow was everywhere. The snow band that brought the snow was very much evident throughout the day as gray clouds persistently hovered over the southern part of the city. The band was so apparent that the wall of snow could be seen from a mile away.
The wintry blast that included bitter cold in spots created havoc across a wide swath of the country. In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Lake-effect storms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 18 inches of snow and canceled several flights at the Grand Rapids airport.
Schools closed in the North Carolina mountains amid blustery winds and ice-coated roads. In Indiana, three firefighters were hurt when a semitrailer hit a fire truck on a snowy highway.
In Atlanta, tourists Morten and Annette Larsen from Copenhagen were caught off-guard by the 30-degree weather as they took photos of a monument to the 1996 summer Olympics at Centennial Olympic Park.
“It’s as cold here as it is in Denmark right now. We didn’t expect that,” Larsen said, waving a hand over his denim jacket, buttoned tightly over a hooded sweatshirt.
The Weather Channel reported that low temperatures were expected to spread south and east on Wednesday and that relief would not reach parts of America until the weekend.
Back in Buffalo, Brian Krzeminski watched the snow pile up outside the south Buffalo convenience store where he worked overnight and served free coffee to the motorists and pedestrians who came in off the city streets to get out of the blinding snow.
“There are people that came out to get a few things. We had some people who came in just to get a 30-pack of beer, which is kind of odd,” he said. “We’ve had EMTs whose ambulance got stuck. I’m constantly seeing cars get stuck.”
Deteriorating conditions forced Amtrak to suspend train service west of Albany, and between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, Toronto and Cleveland until Wednesday afternoon.
“We have tried to get out of our house, and we are lucky to be able to shovel so we can open the door. Basically, that’s it, open the door,” said Linda Oakley of Buffalo. “We’re just thinking that in case of an emergency we can at least get out the door. We can’t go any further.”
“All around us, it’s a solid four feet of snow that is so thick and so heavy you can hardly move it with a shovel,” said Oakley, whose son Todd was with her, unable to make it to work just three miles away.
Jim Lehmann was hunkering down at home with his wife in Hamburg. His neighbor’s house was barely visible through the blowing snow.
“The main thing to do now is sit in the house and wait it out,” Lehmann said. “My neighbor works for a satellite dish company and he tried to get out this morning and he got stuck 80 feet down the street. And he was there for three hours.”
The town of West Seneca recorded 45 inches by late morning and Alden, to the east, had 48 inches. But typical of lake-effect snow, areas just a few miles away, including downtown and north Buffalo, had just a couple of inches.
At one point, nearly half of West Seneca’s plows were bogged down in heavy snow, officials told The Buffalo News. In neighboring Orchard Park, the highway superintendent called the rate of snowfall “unbelievable,” while next door in Hamburg police cars were getting stuck.
Oakley and her son, Todd, were passing the time watching “Dumb and Dumber” on Netflix.
“We can’t even walk down to the end of the street and get ourselves a pizza,” she told The Associated Press, laughing. “Maybe if you had snow shoes, I don’t know.”
http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/11/19/early-winter-pummels-much-country-strands-cars/