LOWVILLE, N.Y. — Heavy snow and numbing temperatures left parts of the US in a deep freeze on Sunday as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend came to an end. Some snowmobilers and skiers enjoyed the winter conditions, while hard-core fans prepared for the wintry conditions NFL game in Buffalo.
In the remote Tug Hill region of New York state, where lake effect snow at Lake Ontario can dump several feet of snow at a time, there was up to 46 inches (117 centimeters) in the Barnes Corners area.
“We just keep digging,” said Kevin Tyo, a local businessman. “We were plowing all day yesterday.” Like many locals, he has a plow attached to his truck for the winter, “and I have a tractor with a bucket and a snow blower.”
His advice? “If you’re not used to it, stay home. When you’re gone, slow down.”
Lake effect snow is caused when warm, moist air is blown over a body of water and mixes with colder, drier air, creating narrow bands of often heavy snow on land. Accumulations could be fast: The U.S. Army’s Fort Drum, near hard-hit Watertown, New York, issued a warning saying up to 18 inches of snow could fall on Sunday.
Commercial vehicles remained prohibited in both directions of I-90 in western New York for nearly 130 miles to the Pennsylvania line.
In Buffalo, officials with the NFL’s Bills had sought stadium snow shovelers for the season, including ahead of Sunday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. The team said it would pay $20 an hour and provide food and hot drinks.
The lake effect storm began impacting the area near the Bills stadium in Orchard Park, New York on Saturday. Hours before the match, snow fell near the stadium.
“Snowfall totals will be highly dependent on whether the current lake effect snow shifts just south of the stadium, or remains over the stadium longer,” the State Weather Risk Communication Center said on social platform X.
Another 12 to 2 feet of snow would be possible in western New York, and another 2 to 3 feet in northern New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said Sunday.
Christine Schintzius set off on clear roads Friday with her 4- and 8-year-old sons and 12- and 15-year-old nieces from Wales, New York, southeast of Buffalo. They planned to attend a hockey tournament in Cleveland, but instead found themselves snowed in a Honda Pilot for 19 hours.
They faced seemingly endless lines of stopped traffic, first for nine hours on Interstate 90 near the New York-Pennsylvania border, and again for 10 hours on Route 5 in Pennsylvania, until residents plowed them out.
“It was packed, there were a lot of people, a lot,” Schintzius said by telephone on Sunday.
While stuck on Route 5, Schintzius never turned off her car, fearing it wouldn’t start in the cold. Two truck drivers checked on them during the night. In the morning, police checked in, along with a resident who walked the line of cars handing out muffins and making sure the stranded drivers had water.
“Luckily all my kids and my nieces are traveling well,” said Schintzius, who had packed a cooler with lunch meat, snacks, yogurt and fruit. “And luckily I actually had a full tank of gas.”
When they were finally free from the backup on Saturday, Schintzius took a detour home, avoiding the worst of the snow that was yet to fall.
“I was afraid I would never get stuck in that again,” she said.
A blast of Arctic air last week brought bitter temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average to the northern plains, the National Weather Service said. Cold air was expected to move across the eastern third of the U.S. on Monday, with temperatures about 10 degrees below average.
Officials in Erie, Pennsylvania, said Sunday that snow from the lake had created “treacherous” conditions that bogged down even snow plows as they worked around the clock. The city estimated that about 100 cars in the city blocked roads and had to be towed out of the way of plows.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a disaster emergency proclamation on Saturday, saying parts of Erie County in the northwest received nearly 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow, with more expected through Monday evening.
Pennsylvania State Police responded to nearly 200 incidents during a 24-hour period from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, officials said.
Parts of Michigan were pummeled by snow due to lake effect, while bands rolling off Lake Superior buried parts of the Upper Peninsula under 2 feet (61 centimeters) or more, said Lily Chapman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
There was 27 inches (69 centimeters) of snow northeast of Ironwood, in the western reaches of the Upper Peninsula. Up to 12 inches could fall across the eastern Upper Peninsula through Monday morning, Chapman said Saturday.
Gaylord, Michigan, received 24.8 inches (63 centimeters) of snow on Friday, setting a single-day record for the city in a region dotted with ski resorts.
Joseph Delizio, a meteorologist based in Gaylord, said heavy snow, especially lake-effect snow, is not unusual this year, “but that magnitude is certainly not.”
A light dusting of snow fell across Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, providing a beautiful backdrop for Christmas decorations and good practices for road crews.
Over the next few days, minimum temperatures in the Appalachians are expected to drop between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 to -7 degrees Celsius).
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Thompson contributed from Buffalo.