- The storm has caused at least eight deaths in New York, New Hampshire and Michigan, according to authorities
- Up to six feet of snow have fallen in western New York since Monday night
- Three feet more could be on the way before the storm subsides
- New York governor Andrew Cuomo has mobilized the National Guard to help western New York dig out from the storm
- Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of Interstate 90 across New York state
- Temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below on Tuesday – more like January than November
- Cold will continue Thursday and Friday – and into the weekend before it warms on Sunday and Monday
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Josh Gardner
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Michael Zennie for MailOnline
Published:
21:41 EST, 18 November 2014
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Updated:
13:02 EST, 20 November 2014
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An expectant mother was forced to give birth in a firehouse after being unable to reach hospital due to nearly six feet of snow falling in just 36 hours in New York.
The Buffalo area has been battered by storms in recent days, which has left some motorists, including the rock band Interpol, trapped on western New York highways, with the National Guard bracing itself for another three feet of snow.
But just as the snow began accumulating around her home on Tuesday evening, Bethany Hojnacki went into labor.
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Buried: Homes are covered in snow in West Seneca, New York Wednesday after the Buffalo area found itself buried under as much as six feet of snow Wednesday, with another lake-effect storm expected to bring 2 to 3 more feet by late Thursday
Will Sunday’s game be postponed? Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. – the home of the Buffalo Bills is buried in snow, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. The Buffalo area found itself buried under as much as 5 feet of snow Wednesday, with another lake-effect storm expected to bring 2 to 3 more feet by late Thursday
Joyful: Bethany Hojnacki and her husband Jared were trapped in their south Buffalo home Tuesday night as Bethany went into labor. hours later, Lucy Grace Hojnacki was born (pictured) was born in an area firehouse
Her husband Jared decided to flag down firefighters as they helped a driver stuck in the monumental snowstorm near their south Buffalo home, Buffalo News reports.
After some failed attempts- with the help of neighbors -to dig out their street, the Hojnackis were forced to find a quicker solution.
With the help of a stranded driver who also happened to be a pediatric nurse, WVIB reports that Bethany gave birth to a healthy baby girl in a nearby firehouse.
Lucy Grace Hojnacki was born weighing 6 pounds and 2 ounces. She has a big brother in Jared and Bethany’s 19-month-old son.
Meanwhile, rock band Interpol were among the 100 motorists stranded on a highway outside Buffalo, when their route to Montreal, where they were due to play a show, became completely blocked.
‘Settling in for another night. Haven’t moved all day. Hoping the expected storm tonight ain’t as bad as predicted. C’mon now now,’ tweeted guitarist Daniel Kessler around 7pm Wednesday.
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Stranded (with booze): The rock band Interpol (band mates at left) were on their way to play a show in Montreal on Tuesday when their tour bus (at right) became trapped along with 100 or so other motorists on Buffalo-area highways paralyzed by historic snowfall
The group kept their spirits up by tweeting from inside their tour bus. Photos showed band members posing with vodka and snacks as well as the completely glazed windows of their bus-turned-chilly prison.
‘Keeping the spirits in a good place ya’ll. thanks for the well wishes. It means a lot to us. Big ups to you,’ Kessler wrote to fans.
And the wintry hell isn’t over.
As of Wednesday night, an additional 2 to 3 feet possible into Thursday, putting the one-week totals for the Buffalo area at close to the average snowfall for a year: 93.6 inches, or nearly to 8 feet.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called up the National Guard to help rescue up to 100 stranded drivers who spent more than a day and a half stranded on highways after six feet of snow overwhelmed western New York this week.
Doritomageddon? This Doritos truck was apparently abandoned in the snow of South Buffalo by its driver in Tuesday’s snowstorm
Out of supplies? Social media evidence suggests the Doritos truck has been raided by hungry Buffalo residents
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s entourage makes its way on interstate I-190 to survey an area in West Seneca, New York November 19, 2014. Cuomo and other government officials viewed part of the thruway where several trucks and motorists were stranded after an autumn blizzard dumped a year’s worth of snow on western New York state
Shaking hands: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talks with a stranded trucker on interstate I-190 while surveying an area in West Seneca, New York
Keep on truckin’: Trucks lined Memorial Drive waiting to dump snow on the grounds of the Central Terminal, Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. Snow was being trucked out of the hardest hit areas after yesterday’s snowstorm which dropped more than five feet of snow
Still more: A bulldozer clears the way for an ambulance in a neighborhood in West Seneca on Wednesday as the Buffalo area braced for another battering of lake effect snow into Thursday
Big dig: A man digs out his driveway in Depew, New York. Authorities are bracing for up to three more feet that could fall on western New York before the storm subsides this weekend.
Pile-up on the road: Cars are stranded on Mile Strip Road at the entrance to Route 219 near Buffalo, New York on Wednesday after almost 24 hours of huge snow falls
No delivery: Trucks are parked at Jim’s Truck Stop in Cheektowaga, outside Buffalo, New York on Wednesday after the truckers were left with no choice but to hold-fast at the parking lot
Cars are covered in snow in Orchard Park, New York, with another lake-effect storm expected to bring 2 to 3 more feet by late Thursday
Heave ho: A 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway remained closed Wednesday and dozens of drivers were trapped on the road after their vehicles became overwhelmed by the snow. Other motors abandoned their vehicles or were rescued by state troopers
Authorities are bracing for up to three more feet that could fall on western New York before the storm subsides this weekend.
A 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway remains closed today and dozens of drivers were trapped on the road after their vehicles became overwhelmed by the snow. Other motors abandoned their vehicles or were rescued by state troopers.
Currently, 22 stranded motorists are camping out at the Lackawanna toll station on the Thruway, waiting for vehicles to get through so that they can return home, the Buffalo News reports. Their cars are still parked on the highway – and in the way of snow plows that are attempting to clear the road.
Endjie Ulysses, a student at Penn State University, told NBC News she was one of 14 people trapped on a Greyhound bus on the Throughway for 34 hours before state troopers rescued them on Wednesday.
‘I’m just tired. I’ve only slept for about two or three hours,’ she said.
Ominous: Storm clouds and snow blows across Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, November 18, 2014. An autumn blizzard dumped a year’s worth of snow in three days on Western New York state, where seven people died and residents, some stranded overnight in cars, braced for another pummeling expected later on Wednesday
Built for this weather: A buffalo at the Buffalo Zoo sports a frozen beard on November 19, 2014 in Buffalo, New York.
A brutal storm has dumped more than FIVE FEET of snow in Buffalo, New York
To the rescue: Servicemen from the New York Air National Guard helped dig out stranded motorists and others who were trapped by six feet of snow that fell in Buffalo, New York, between Monday night and Wednesday
Guardsmen also shoveled off the roof of a nursing home that was in danger of collapsing from the weight of the snow
Stranded: These are just a few of the at least 100 cars and trucks that are left stranded on the New York State Thruway after it was socked in by several feet of snow
Hunkering down: Charles Miller reclines in the cab of his big rig, where he has been stuck for more than 36 hours after getting caught in a snow storm on Tuesday
The snow is so heavy that it has to be loaded into trucks and carried away in many places because there’s no room to plow it on the roadsides
The snow is so heavy that it risks caving in roofs and must be shoveled away to reduce the weight
Students from the Grand Valley State University built a snowman that looks like the character Olaf from the movie ‘Frozen’ in Michigan
Up to three feet more snow is headed to Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday night and Thursday
The early winter storms and bitter temperatures have already been blamed for at least eight deaths across three states – including a man in Buffalo, New York, who was found dead in his car, covered in several feet of snow after he crashed into a ditch.
The rest of the country was forced to bundle up again today as temperatures continue to clock in at 15 to 20 degrees below average for this time of year.
It was even colder today in many parts of the country than it was on terrible Tuesday. This means lows of 20 degrees in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and single digits across most of the Midwest – including nine degrees in Chicago.
Even the South is experiencing a record-breaking deep-freeze, with temperatures dropping to 31 in Houston, 30 in New Orleans, 28 degrees in the Florida panhandle and 21 in Atlanta.
The bitter cold snap will continue for the rest of the week, with lows in the teens in the Midwest, 20s in the Northeast and mid-30s in the South for Thursday and Friday.
The storm stranded about 150 people in their cars on the New York State Thruway for hours Tuesday night and Wednesday – including the Niagara University women’s basketball team.
Snow smash: The incredible snowfall – five feet in just a matter of hours – caved in roofs and even smashed through the doors of this Buffalo, New York, home
Lake effect: The view from the sky above Buffalo, New York, shows the lake effect snow storm moving into the city from Lake Erie. Lake effect snow has caused nearly all of the snowfall in the last two days – mostly in Upstate New York and western Michigan
A band of storm clouds moves across Lake Erie and into Buffalo, New York on Tuesday. Parts of New York measured the season’s first big snowfall in feet, rather than inches, as three feet of lake-effect snow blanketed the Buffalo area and forced the closure of a 132-mile stretch of the state Thruway
Cold enough: Wednesday has proved even colder than terrible Tuesday – with lows of 20 degrees in New York City and Washington, D.C., and single digits across the Midwest. Pictured here, a house in Buffalo, New York, where temperatures dipped to 13
Stranded: The Niargara University wpmen’s basketball team was stranded on the New York State Thruway in western New York for 26 hours until they could be rescued. About 150 motorists spent the night in their cars
Frozen: Air travel was also hit by delays thanks to the snow – above is a Delta Airlines plan at Buffalo Greater International Airport
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The players were forced to wait aboard the team bus for 26 hours until state troopers could rescue them.
Some got so thirsty they drank melted snow, said Coach Kenra Faustin, who was traveling with her 1-year-old.
Team spokeswoman Chelsea Andorka said the bus, with about 25 players and coaches aboard, was headed back from a loss in Pittsburgh when it came to a halt at 2am on Tuesday.
‘We were told the National Guard was coming by but haven’t seen any signs of life,’ Andorka said.
‘The first time they came they told us to be prepared to stay for a while. One tow truck passed six or seven hours ago.
Even colder: Temperatures dropped even lower today than they were yesterday in much of the country – with lows in the single digits in most of the Midwest and low 20s in the South and Northeast
No relief: It will warm slightly on Thursday – though temperatures will still be far below average for mid-November – teens in the Midwest, 20s and 30s in the Northeast and mid-30s in the South
Warmer weekends: Friday will still be cold and miserable for most of the country, but Sunday and Monday are expected to see average – or even above average – temperatures return
More snow: Up to 18 inches of additional snow could hit western New York today, adding to the six feet that’s already on the ground in the region
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LAKE EFFECT: THE ENGINE DRIVING THE SNOW STORM THAT DUMPED SIX FEET ON BUFFALO
Snow belt: Lake Erie is causing the record-setting amount of snowfall in Buffalo, New York, thanks to the ‘lake effect’
The incredible six feet of snow that has fallen on western New York – along with big storms in western Michigan, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin – is due to the phenomenon called lake effect snow.
Lake effect snow can cause sudden and heavy snow storms – and it’s usually worse earlier in the season.
Large bodies of water like the Great Lakes retain heat from the summer – meaning they can be much warmer than the air, especially during an unseasonable cold snap like this one.
Lake Erie is currently 45 degrees – compared with lows of 13 degrees in Buffalo, New York, which is on the eastern shore of the lake.
When frigid winds blow across the warmer water, they pick up large amounts of water.
When those winds make landfall, the clouds – traveling across the cold land – release their haul of snow.
Because Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are wider, east winds can travel the entire length of the lakes, picking up water during their entire journey.
This is why western New York is known as the ‘snowbelt,’ often getting more than 100 inches of snow each year.
It also explains how six feet of snow can fall during a mid-November cold snap.
The bigger the difference between the water temperature and the air temperature, the heavier the potential snow storms become. As winter progresses and the water temperature drops, lake effect snow often becomes less intense.
‘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.’
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed 150 members of the National Guard to help clear the cars from the road during a brief lull between storms. A state of emergency, declared on Tuesday, remains in effect for parts of the region and officials are telling people to stay inside and off the roads.
By Wednesday, 100 cars remained on the New York State Thruway. A 132-mile stretch of the vital highway remains closed because snowplows cannot clear the road due to the stuck cars.
Authorities are hoping to clear them by later today.
Amtrak has also suspended train service to and from western New York as crews work to clear tracks of the heavy pileup.
Airports in Buffalo and Grand Rapids, Michigan, were forced to cancel flights as a result of the snow.
Authorities say there is so much accumulation that it can’t just be plowed in most places – it must be scooped up and hauled away in order to clear roads.
Surf Buffalo: One daredevil couple laughed in the face of Jack Frost and went surfing in the sub-freezing temperatures on Lake Erie
Cold snap: The massive cold caused a watermain break in Dayton, Ohio. The water leak waked out the road, causing a massive sinkhole that nearly swallowed a truck
Isn’t that dangerous: This man didn’t quite finish digging out his truck before taking to the roads in Lancaster, New York
Nobody dreams of a white November: It seems this resident of Buffalo gave up after trying to shovel out of their home
Parking lot: Over 100 cars are still stranded on the New York State Thruway, preventing plows from clearing it. A 132-mile stretch of the vital highway remains closed
Coming through: Freight trains are plowing their way through western New York, though Amtrak has suspended passenger rail service to the region
Digging out: A man in Buffalo labors to shovel out his driveway in the wake of the snowstorm. Several people have died of heart attacks while shoveling
Stuck: Cars are snowed under across the country, leaving drivers with hours of work if they want to leave
Daunting task: Many residents of Lancaster, New York, haven’t even begun to clear their driveways
The storms in Michigan and Upstate New York are the result of lake effect snow. Lake effect snow is the result of cold winds blasting across the relatively surfaces of the Great Lakes, which tend to retain heat, picking up moisture as they go.
When that cold, moist air makes landfall, it can result in sudden, massive snow storms. The squalls can be surprisingly isolated. Some part of Buffalo got nearly five feet of snow on Tuesday. Others escaped with just a few inches.
In a region accustomed to highway-choking snowstorms, this one is being called one of the worst in memory.
Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the Thruway, the main highway across New York state.
Meteorologists say temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below on Tuesday. They say the low temperatures were more reminiscent of January than November.
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.
Neighbors pulled out their tractors on Wednesday to help dig out from the heavy snow fall, which topped 60 inches in some places
Put the kids to work: Braeden Attig, 11, has been given the daunting task of digging out his mother’s car in Orchard Park, New York
Several feet of snow made a clearing driveways a tough task, even with a snow blower
Cabin fever? This gentleman appeared to be enjoying the snow a bit too much
The outside coming in: Chrissy Gritzke Hazard, of Cheektowaga, New York, snapped these pictures after the incredible snow that piled up smashed through her doors and into her house
No walkies! A dog in Buffalo, New York, is left stuck inside after a storm dumped several feet of snow on Tuesday
No way out: This New York resident showed how snow blocked off the entrance to her garage – blocking her from leaving her house to get fuel
Piling up: Art Hauret, of Lancaster, New York, needed a tape measure to show off the four feet of snow that piled up in his driveway in just a few hours on Tuesday
Making the best of it: Some western New York residents, hardened by life in the Great White North, used the massive snow as an excuse to have a little fun
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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.’
The National Weather Service warned that the snow, generated by cold air blowing over the warmer Great Lakes, would continue through Wednesday and could eventually total 6 feet in places. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed 150 member of the National Guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles.
‘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 4 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.
Too cold: By Thursday, temperatures will still be far below normal for this time of year – up to 19 degrees lower than average in some places
More than half of the country is currently covered in snow and more is expected to fall on Wednesday
Buried: Upstate New York residents are digging out today and bracing for up to 18 inches of additional snowfall
Fun in the snow: Kids of all ages found themselves playing in the snow on Tuesday – one of the upsides of the dramatic blizzard
Jim Lehmann was hunkering down with his wife in their town of Hamburg home, while outside 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 said, laughing. ‘Maybe if you had snow shoes, I don’t know.’
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