Heavy snow is expected to continue piling up in western New York state through Sunday after a historic storm brought record snowfall to the Buffalo area that reached more than 6 feet in some areas.
Shortly after 11:00 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service in Buffalo issued a special weather statement warning that heavy snow accompanied by strong winds was creating a “blizzard” in western New York state.
It was moving south of the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas, the weather service said. Meanwhile, by Sunday morning (local time), the winds shifted further west.
Buffalo is no longer under a snow warning, but remains “under a wintry weather advisory” through Sunday evening.
While the Buffalo area is used to heavy snowfall, this storm is delivering “a lot more than we usually get,” Mayor Byron Brown said.
Erie County, which includes Buffalo, experienced the most snowfall ever in a 24-hour period Saturday, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
“This was a record storm that in some ways was more intense than Snowvember,” Poloncarz wrote on Twitter.
“Snowvember” refers to a blizzard in the Buffalo area in November 2014 that saw about 2.1 meters of snow fall in three days.
At least 13 people died in that storm, and the weight of the snow caused dozens of roofs to be damaged by its impact.