Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the winter storm impacting parts of Western, Central, and Northern New York. More than five feet of snow has already accumulated in parts of Erie County and more than six feet of snow has fallen in Jefferson County since Thursday evening.
Areas in and around the cities of Buffalo and Watertown have experienced consistent snowfall rates of two-to-three inches per hour, with some locations seeing a peak of six inches of snowfall an hour. This intense snowfall has created extremely dangerous travel conditions, and as a result, numerous road closures and travel bans remain in place throughout Erie County.
With these conditions expected to continue throughout the weekend, Governor Hochul and local officials are continuing to urge New Yorkers to avoid travel in the impacted areas of Erie County, as well as in areas in the North County experiencing a similar lake effect storm off the eastern shores of Lake Ontario near Watertown.
The Governor is also submitting a request to President Biden for a federal Emergency Declaration for 11 counties. Once approved, the Emergency Declaration will provide immediate federal funding to impacted counties to support ongoing response and rescue operations.
“I have spent the past several days here in Western New York working around the clock with my team to coordinate storm preparations with local officials, survey conditions on the ground and deploy resources to keep residents safe, including doubling the number of National Guard members to Western New York,” Governor Hochul said.
“This is an historic storm, and I want to thank everyone in storm impacted areas for their patience and compliance with local travel ordinances. While we continue our recovery efforts, including requesting a federal emergency declaration, I encourage everyone to continue to look after one another, stay home, and check in on loved ones and neighbors so that we all come out of this safely.”
See footage below:
6 FEET OF SNOW?! 😱☃️ New Yorkers are digging themselves out after a storm dumped several feet of snow in part of the state. This video shows Hamburg, NY, where 73 inches have fallen. https://t.co/9i7bgSVcQm pic.twitter.com/lqn7eB4zAb
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) November 19, 2022
Timelapse from the nearby East Aurora site, which received 28” from our sonic snow depth sensor. pic.twitter.com/fcbBatkZAZ
— NYS Mesonet at UAlbany (@nysmesonet) November 19, 2022
Some people are calling into question Orchard Park’s measurements. I wasn’t in Orchard Park, I was in Hamburg and I measured 57”- 61” of peak snow depth on the ground. That means actual snowfall, which I was unable to measure, had to be higher because of compaction. #wxtwitter pic.twitter.com/zTvk9Opa2o
— Mark Margavage (@MeteoMark) November 20, 2022
Over 6 feet of snow in Hamburg, [NY] 🤯👀 pic.twitter.com/QUKKV3nJaZ
— Bruce R Snyder AKA The Dude 🇺🇸 (@realBruceSnyder) November 19, 2022
