Lake-effect storm dumps several feet of snow in N.Y.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A massive storm dumped several feet of snow in the areas ringing Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, causing at least three deaths, forcing an NFL game to be moved and creating gridlock as tractortrailers detoured onto smaller roads to avoid a closure of part of Interstate 90 in western New York.
The lake-effect storm had produced more than 6 feet of snow in some areas by Saturday morning. The Buffalo metro area was hit particularly hard, with some areas south of the city bearing the brunt. The front had begun to move northward from Buffalo by Saturday, but forecasts called for more snow as Monday approached.
According to the National Weather Service, the suburb of Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, reported 77 inches by early Saturday. About 80 miles northeast of the city, the town of Natural Bridge, near the Fort Drum Army base, reported just under6 feet.
The inundation forced the NFL to move Sunday’s game between the Bills and Cleveland Browns to Detroit.
The National Weather Service predicted partial sunshine and a break from the snow on Saturday in New York, but not for long.
“Later on this evening and through early next week, we’re expecting another round of lake-effect snow for much of western New York,” National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor told the Associated Press. Taylor, based in College Park, Md., said that could produce as much as15 inches of snow for areas near Lake Erie and 2 feet for areasnear Lake Ontario.
In the Buffalo area, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted that two people died “associated with
cardiac events related to exertion during shoveling/ snow blowing.” A third person — a snowplow driver in the town of Hamlet, Ind. — was killed Friday when his plow slid off the pavement and rolled over, the Starke CountySheriff’s Department. Hamletis about 30 miles from LakeMichigan.
In other tweets, Mr. Poloncarz expressed frustration at reports of trucks getting stuck on smaller roads as they tried to get around the I90 detour. A video posted online showed a line of trucks backed up on a street in OrchardPark.
The weather didn’t deter one Buffalo-area couple from tying the knot on Saturday, a year after they became engaged. Robert Junge said he and fiancee Maria Szeglowski decided on a November wedding because Buffalo had only had one major November storm, eight years ago,since 2000.
After the storm prompted a driving ban that forced their banquet hall to cancel, they pivoted and decided to hold the ceremony anyway and postpone the reception until next weekend. About 100 of 180 expected guests weren’t going to make it for the ceremony, Mr. Junge said.
“We’re all trying to look at in a positive way,” he said. “It’s definitely going to make for some beautiful pictures andvideos.
“I know this sounds like a spiel, but I’m so excited to marry my fiancee, I love her so much, nothing was going to stop me,” he added. “I don’t need anybody to be sorry. We willget through this.”