Just after 11 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service in Buffalo issued a special statement, warning of a band of heavy snow accompanied by high winds, creating a "burst of snow" in western New York state.
By Sunday morning, winds shifted more westerly, meaning the heaviest lake-effect snow bands moved south of Buffalo impacting areas from Cleveland to Dunkirk, New York. Buffalo was no longer under a lake-effect snow warning but remained under a winter weather advisory through Sunday evening for "blowing snow."
While the Buffalo area is used to dealing with heavy snowfall, this storm is delivering "much more than we usually get," Mayor Byron Brown told CNN on Saturday. Continue scrolling to check out the images we at Bored Panda gathered to show just how extreme the situation looks.
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That snow's not nearly high enough to be from this storm if it was taken in Buffalo.
Not if the picture was taken between the 2 snow fronts hitting us. Some people thought the first one was going to be the end of the problem--then the second one hit just about the time most of them finished cleaning up after the first one.
Load More Replies...It's terrifying - the snowman is surrounded by his relatives' loose body parts
I wonder if anyone checked on them...not the snow.an, the family!
I think if they can build a snowman they're probably fine ☃️ ⛄
Load More Replies...Buffalo local and Twitter user Alexandra (@eustace225) is one of the people whose picture we featured to illustrate the snowfall. She shared her dog's reaction to it and its expression was so funny, we just had to include it.
"The weather this time of year is usually just cold with maybe some dustings of snow," Alexandra told Bored Panda. "[But] this past weekend was very overwhelming, we broke New York State records with snowfall. We had about 4 and a half feet, personally."
That's right. Erie County, which includes Buffalo, experienced its largest-ever amount of snowfall in a 24-hour period Saturday, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
“This was a RECORD-BREAKING storm that in some ways was more intense than Snowvember, the relatively quick recovery is a testament to everyone’s preparation and planning,” Poloncarz tweeted. “The proactive approach continues to work.”
Alexandra agrees that the local authorities actually handled things very well. "They closed schools and shut down roads and interstates early Thursday before it all started. Declared a state of emergency early and brought in outside help. I think they learned a lot from the storm in 2014."
lawn egg is the funniest thing ive ever heard... and i totally agree
Load More Replies...I'm somewhat homesick and at the same time, realllllly glad I live in the US South at the moment.
Asking from Australia, does the snow kill the lawn and garden plants, or is everything ok after it melts?
Our lawns go dormant so they are brown for a couple weeks when the snow melts and then they come back green but we also have different grass, I have soft grass not grass they have in the southern US that is kindof prickly. Plants come back if they are perennials, annuals don't though.
Load More Replies...Perfect! I hope you took all those pics from a nice warm part of the house!!
The USA really needs to invest more money in disaster relief. The way things are going, we can expect some major climate catastrophe almost every year.
Try being a voter and a tax payer out here. I hate all of our politicians. My tax dollars go toward their outrageous paychecks and very little else and there's nothing I can do about it because it's not like my vote matters.
Load More Replies...So true! I can't help remembering the US firefighters that came to help with our Black Summer bushfires in 2019/20 and died in a helicopter crash!
Load More Replies...The cats like playing in the snow but I think 6 feet would be a bit much for them.
Mine did a face-plant (and an immediate disappearing act!) and didn't try his Houdini act again until it all melted away. That's right; right now we have no snow. And that s fine by me!
Load More Replies...Everything is already political, politics is just about how we use, create, and allocate resources....
Load More Replies...There are funds for disaster relief. The problem so many have is shown above. My mother is 89 and I am 62. My neice (age 51) comes over and helps us clear sidewalks. If we ever got 6 feet, we would all be screwed.
The “Snowvember” that Alexandra and Poloncarz referred to was a storm in the Buffalo area in November 2014, when almost 7 feet of snow was dumped in just three days. That storm had taken the lives of at least 13 people and the weight of the snow caused dozens of roofs to crumble under the impact.
So far, this storm has taken 2 casualties, who collapsed from cardiac complications related to shoveling snow and attempting to clear the ground, Poloncarz said.
And now for a joke: What's the internal temperature of a Tauntaun? Lukewarm. 🥁
It's from one of the Star Wars movies, a nonsensical machine used on an ice planet. Very clever photoshopping.
Load More Replies...When the Empire thinks they're on Hoth but accidentally warp speeds it to Buffalo!
Now we are going to paint some happy little snowflakes on our happy little buried trees.
Now let's put a happy little snow mushroom. Just wherever your heart feels it should live.
Then at the end, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. I SAID LIGHTLY
That is what lake effect snow looks like. You can have a dusting in one neighborhood, then three blocks away have a foot.
I can only imagine what those two snow plow drivers are thinking 😂
It looks like a haboob(sand storm) in Arizona lol. That's an awesome pic!
An observation site near Orchard Park, where the NFL’s Buffalo Bills play, recorded a snow total of 80 inches since Thursday, making it the third-highest three-day total ever in the state of New York.
As you can see from the pictures, the multiday weather event has made travel in the region difficult, triggering the closing of roads, driving bans, and flight cancellations the weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Driving into that abyss was a nightmare. I felt like I was going through time and space
That does depend on whether you have to get out in it or not.
Load More Replies...I love snow, however, if I were to move to this area, it would probably just snow a few INCHES…
A good servant knows to appropriately attend to the needs of their god. This human will live another day.
And attending to their needs are so life-affirming for us!!
Load More Replies...Same here. A while back we had a blizzard with high winds....yep lake effect snow. Fell asleep on the couch and woke up when the dog barked a couple of times and whined. He kept whining and when I was fully awake I realized my front picture window was coated top to bottom with snow. Got my winter gear on, got a push broom from the garage, and cleared the window. Fortunately it wasn't icy and the snow came right off. Dog was happy. Animals don't ask for much.
A good servant knows to appropriately attend to the needs of their god. This human will live another day...said no cat ever since cats really cant talk. FYI animation is NOT real. So sorry to harsh your meow.. i mean mellow 🤯
for anybody confused, OP was editing photoes of their dog on top of eachother to moniter the snow level.
The dog in the photo looks exactly like a dog I used to have he passed away this year cancer Where did you get him
We measure hard alcohol by fingers, too. You mad? 😄
Load More Replies...As a Canadian, I'm frankly surprised and disappointed we haven't thought of this. Tch. Honestly, with all the hockey fans, too!
Travel bans were in effect for much of Erie County, but as of Sunday morning, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted that many roads in Buffalo and Watertown have been able to reopen, and “traffic is starting to move again!”
Nearly 400 citations have been issued to drivers who were violating travel bans in the region, Poloncarz, the Erie County executive, said.
That would be all you could see of me if I was in that snow
Load More Replies...Can only imagine Kevin Hart. Sure we’ll need to send in the rescue team. Lol.
A long time ago, during Buffalo's blizzard of 1978, my Dad became my hero when he took our snowblower and made a trail in the backyard for my 14 yr old toy poodle. Bootsie and I were both grateful. Dad now lives in Florida and I moved to North Carolina.
Was he standing there the whole time because I didn't see traces in the snow around him, lol
That's because the cameraman came in from another angle, and the reporter is walking towards him from a different one, so there's virgin snow between them. That being said, it's dangerous because you have no knowledge of what's under your feet; you could step in a hole or trip on an obstacle. And wading through that--stuff!--is verytiring.
Load More Replies...Wow! I am so sorry I missed the snow! But, looking forward to all the tales of the snow to come!!
Ship it to Cali we can fill our water ways and drying up lakes lol
Carry on, brave and valient men, (also women if there are). We salute you!🥲👍
They start with the streets that are designated 'emergency snow routes' and progress outward from there. This lets people get out of the city (freeing up the streets!) and the emergency vehicles can get around. '14 taught us a lot, although we've been on a sharp leaning curve since '77.
Meanwhile in the Midwest you get a dusting and the highway is shut down.
Too bad those trucks aren't freezers; I'd say dump them in California. We're in a drought.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, three inches of snow takes a month to clear.
“If you’re trying to enter an area where a travel ban exists, you will meet a friendly neighborhood New York State trooper who will immediately give you a ticket for violating the travel ban,” Poloncarz said.
Leave it there just short of an hour starting a room temp and will be just about perfect temp
Load More Replies...also a way to keep things cold when the power goes out.
Load More Replies...lol we do this during winter just put stuff in the enclosed porch or fill a cooler with snow for keeping stuff cold
I couldn’t let my front door get that far behind the dig out process. I only live in the Mid Atlantic but never ever allow the dig out exceed more than two feet. Keep shoveling in repetitive shifts. During the 2010 Super Bowl that New Orleans Saints won, we got only five feet of snow and my medium size Dodge truck was 80% under snow and the front door was over 4 feet. Never again. Dig out as it falls rather than all at one when it’s too hard.
From orchard park, with love... Little James Bond thing, anyways. Good luck buffalo. Sure wish Chicago had this. I love the snow..
Memories. Ah, memories. I'm 5-10. We have pics of me in snow to my chin when I was a mere 5-8. ( In metric, 1.73 meters tall at five-foot-eight-inches.) And, to be honest, the snow kept the wind off you, so it was kinda better than no-snow-and-wind.
Wow! I am not a fan of the snow or cold so can not imagine having to deal with this weather!
It is the epitome of the ancient Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times".
Load More Replies...Guess its good I was born a Human instead of a dog, since I hate snow and the cold!
Winter is not coming. Winter is here. Fix your sweatshirt.
Beautiful!! Love the dog also!! Good job to both of you!!
I (sort of) miss snowfalls like that. Now I get mostly rain as I learn of snow falling all around me. Darn my bubble!
I am definitely an admiring fan of this guy tackling this backbreaking task! Way to go! 👍
Lol @ the audacity of that sweatshirts threat. So far winter aint got sh!t on autumn
While officials earlier said some vehicles had to be towed after being stuck on the side of the road or involved in accidents, Hochul thanked New Yorkers who adhered to travel advisories and stayed home: "Thank you for just following the directions, staying off the roads, and as a result, all the major thoroughfares are open now in western New York and the north country, with some limitation."
That's been my fear for all of these folks. All that snow is HEAVY.
Load More Replies...I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I find these photos very disturbing.
Nope. All ya need now are a couple of Graham crackers and a VERY BIG Hershey bar and viola!! S'mores!!
Load More Replies...Incredible! I love how when it's snowing, the world around us is muted! It's so peaceful! Like that picture!
This is a picture of Grandma and Grandpa taken this evening taken outside the garage. ☃️⛄
Wouldn't it be something is she dug it out and realized it wasn't her car?
Eeny meeny miny ...don't want to dig out the wrong car, do l
Thank god for remote start.. unless of course you forgot to leave the heat turned on full blast
We had some snow in Buffalo
This reminds me of how I was looking at coats online for my kids. Read a review that said “great for the really cold, cold winters”. Thought “great!” Then read on and saw that the reviewers version of “cold, cold winter” meant 45°… Cold is relative. 😂
Unless it's in Kelvin, that's not cold. Sorry Florida.
Load More Replies...It's really pretty common in the entire north - shorts on here in New Hampshire at 21F/-6C
Load More Replies...In Virginia Beach we call this "Parka & cargo shorts" weather. I haven't seen women do it, but I have seen many men dress like that while shoveling snow. Must be all of the alcohol in their blood from imbibing while the snow is falling!😉
Shoveling is hard work, which will keep your legs pretty warm and air is actually a decent insulator if it's not wet. This way you can go towell off your legs and keep warm instead of having to be in snow pants that will get too hot in that hard work or thinner pants that will get really cold when wet.
Load More Replies...November 18 is my birthday, and I lived in Buffalo for 6 months in 2014. Worst bday ever🥲
Load More Replies...That's the El Nino/ La Nina cycle for you. Get used to it, it's going to be a thing for the next few centuries.
For the next few centuries? Pardon my ignorance but why would the cycle change?
Load More Replies...Every Nov. 18th from now on there will be massive Snow parties. Should make it a Buffalo holiday, just in case
Air travel also has been challenged by the record snow, with dozens of flights arriving and departing from Buffalo Niagara International Airport canceled as conditions worsened, according to the airport’s website.
The airport set a daily snowfall record of 21.5 inches Saturday, shattering the previous daily record of 7.6 inches set in 2014. It ranks as the fifth-highest single-day snowfall total on record for Buffalo and the second-highest single-day snowfall total for the month of November.
Can confirm. I live in the Northtowns of the Buffalo area. Less than 5-6 inches. My coworker who is down by the stadium had over 3 feet and it was still coming down last I talked to him. Plus, he lost power.
I live in the city itself, and we got *hammered*--partially due, I think, to the wind.
Load More Replies...Reminds me of my childhood. The dog wanted to go out to relive himself. He wasn't impressed by the snow outside the front door and demanded to go out the back. He didn't realise the blizzard had come in from that direction, and the snow had completely covered the back door. The dog turned and look at me. The disgust on his face was so obvious. He cocked his leg on the snow, and retired to a nice warm spot by the fire.
My wife would love that ski! (Bills Mafia Babe with their flag hanging out front 365/year.)
Aaaaaaaahhh , from Buffalo with love... Little James Bond thing there. Good luck guys. Sure wish we had all that in chicago. I love the snow. Go bills Go 49ers.
Every year i see record snow totals in the buffalo NY area increase. My question is what happens in the summer to keep you from packing you stuff up and moving to a place (like almost any other place in the U.S.A) that receives snow totals under the notch in the measuring tape that reads.. INSANELY DEEP ?
Ken should be out shoveling snow, while barbie is on the porch with a hot chocolate
Load More Replies...As if 80 inches of snow weren't enough.. chancey wants to go and call your bluff on the authenticity of your Bills support
And most of it will melt this week. It's supposed to be above freezing all week!
He looks quite happy now. This pic was obviously taken BEFORE he began the task of trying to shovel his driveway!
Nice! Worst I saw in Traverse City was a long time ago. I remember the temp got to -36° F! It was a little cold! 1978!
As a native of the Up North, I love thepics people get of the systems/cells moving through. You can be fine and then, boom! Whiteout! (Which we sang to the tune of Wipeout, the old surf song.)
as a home "owner", it's beautiful !!! (my joy when it's the snow always have a little thought for the homeless)
Maybe it is just me but just left of center the cloud looks like a cat in profile
I can't believe someone took the time to drive out to a deserted parking lot (the building was torn down) on an exposed spit of land to play with a camera! That someone is NUTS!
with as many times as buffalo is shown in this post...I don't think I'm ever coming there
While living down South, would see sights like this during the Tornado and Hurricane seasons, very awesome, but terrifying at the same time.
Brown, the Buffalo mayor, said the city could return to “some sense of normalcy” by Monday or Tuesday, assuming the worst of the storm had passed through Sunday.
"This has been a very unpredictable storm with the snow bands moving, back and forth, north to south," Brown noted. "The snow has come down very fast, very wet, very heavy."
Nah. He knows he'll get warm working, so why get his jeans all sweaty? Pfft. It's snow, not *cold* (read: -20*C/F). Signed, a native of The Up North This is Our Normal
Load More Replies...As a Canadian, I can confirm we do that sometimes. I once took out the garbage in shorts, while shirtless, as a teen, in -15 degree Celsius. Only out for about 2 minutes, lol.
Load More Replies...Nah, there are people out there (usually men) who wear shorts all year long, doesn't matter the weather. I want to be one.
No! You just can't wear thigh-length shorts after Labor Day! Time to switch to knee-length, dude.
Went to college one year in Buffalo. No joke, the snow is wicked! No thanks! Having horses to tend to, I cannot even imagine!
If you ever saw/read the Mist by Stephen King that's what it was like driving on the highway in a storm where we got 4 feet of snow in one day. I had no choice but to try to drive, roommate had a medical emergency. Nothing but white and silence, absolutely eerie.
Load More Replies...What is he doing? Did he get caught outside when it started snowing? Cause I don't see any tracks 😳
Tracks are behind him. At 5'4", you can't even see me right there behind him
He's employed by the weather station to just stand there. Nice job if you can get it!
Where I live, some trees will lose their leaves in early September while nearby trees of the exact same species still have green leaves until the first hard freeze. I've never understood the mechanism.
Load More Replies...Its still November... Some trees don't drop leaves until later
🎶 Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, please dear God stop letting it snow!🎶
Just the one strip that's shovel-wide... the rest looks too even and likely cleared by snow-blower (I used to live in the Ontario snow belt, north of the Great Lakes).
Load More Replies...Why does this remind me of the Parting of the Red Sea
One hour of snow in Buffalo
I feel sorry for the kids, before the pandemic they would get snow days, now they still have school.
Ours still got normal snow days, if they would have went over their limit, then they would have assignments to do while they were home. They called them blizzard bags, some of the assignments might take a whole 5 minutes per class.
Load More Replies..."yeah lemme just ready the sled dogs" lol why is this every boss i've ever had
Load More Replies...That would be so fun ngl (rolling off the roof not shoveling the snow)
Uh-huh. Going Back To Bed, see you February 2nd
Load More Replies...Forgot Abt the dogs. Means someone has to shovel A path space for the "potty"
Yeah, of course. Barry the postie will be out there in his shorts as usual.
Born & raised Ohio near PA line so I've seen snow. Buffalo is ridiculous
Buffalo is right in the worst line of the windward lake effect. That's why one storm left us with 30 foot high, twenty foot long drifts they had to tunnel through to get the street open again. (My street, too,about three blocks down!) If the snow band and the wind hit at the same time...especially if the lake hasn't frozen far enough from the banks, yet, we get clobbered.
Load More Replies...I would gladly opt to NOT dig out and be happily stuck at home for as long as possible 🤍❄
I live in Canada about an hour from Buffalo and I have driven across a very dry snow free border many times into a blizzard on the US side. The good part is, Buffalo snow removal is quick and efficient.
This shot was taken from the General Mills Cheerios processing plant area.
I once flew on Christmas Day in the early 1990's... they had to de-ice the wings before we took off from Lester B. Pearson in Toronto.
I flew out of Buffalo in weather remarkably like this. The airlines don't like to lose money.
Or this afternoon.Tonight isn't looking good either. How'bout next week
I'd LOVE to have this in TN! As long as I have power and groceries I'm perfectly happy being trapped at home, lol
Energizer. I'm sorry but l had to laugh. I live in Florida now but originally Ohio 56 yrs.l feel your pain, l do
Prayer for you & all those there with life-threatening issues. This is scary for them
You live in/near Buffalo and you don't keep a winter hoard? Are you *crazy*? I learned that one Years ago.
And don't drink that stuff until you're done shovelling and are sitting back in the house, warm and dry.
Yes but the shelves were bare at Wegman’s the night before from all the panic buying
Load More Replies...For the uninitiated, 'lake effect' is the original band of moisture coming in, which picks up more moisture and speed from the lake, joins with the prevailing wind and dumps it on the designated shore. (That would be us.) Ice on the lake limits how much water the snow/rain band can pick up, and how far inland the resulting mess will travel.
I read in an earlier post that Orchard Park got 77" in 24 hours, breaking the US history record...?
Would it have helped if the loader used his er bucket (at rear) to add something to brace? Or would it not have had enough clearence? Or would the winch not permit it to be use that way? I don't know anything about the vehicle so just curious
If it's anything like my street, they still have power lines all over, which hampers a lot of the bucket's use.
Load More Replies...grab a book and some tea and enjoy! used to wish for snow days... now i wish for the state to close the roads 'cause it's the only way work shuts down lol... doesn't happen nearly as often as i'd like :( could look like the planet hoth outside and they're all "oh we salted the roads last night, you'll be fine!"
Nuthin' historic about this storm. This time they took action before it, not after.
What? Ypi can't hear all the people swearing at the snow?
Load More Replies...The problem there, is that it'll all be deposited at the end of the cleared driveway... packed and icy.
Load More Replies...Wales????? Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch more like.
I think they spelled 'Wails" wrong, and it stuck.
Load More Replies...About ten minutes after it hit we were there. And it carried on for another two days.
Load More Replies...For context to my fellow Pandas: I grew up on the US Canadian border and spent a lot of time in the "snow belt" regions of both. It's not unusual for Buffalo to get a lot of snow. It usually stops after a meter or so to give people breathing space. (For the US Pandas, that's roughly 39 inches.)
We got a little snow and ice one year here in NC. Shut everything down. We had transplant people from New York asking why the sanders and snowplows weren't out clearing things. I replied with "because they don't want to invest huge amounts of money in something that only happens every 7-8 years." On that same note, I had NC people asking me what the metal tubes were in front of the tires of Washington State School buses. I said they were sanders to keep the buses from getting stuck on snowy hills. I'm just glad I now live where snow is a rare occasion.
Load More Replies...You know something's wrong when you're in Minnesota and there's only 2 inches of snow...
Lived south of Boston for the blizzard of '78 working at Cumberland's dairy farm and the head herdsman was from the Buffalo area who laughed as he mentioned "this is nothing but normal for me" - and he was spot on.
My husband is from PA and I’ve lived in NC my whole life. He said he doesn’t miss that weather.
Load More Replies...I find this so scary. When you can’t pull a snow plow out of the snow?!! People have done amazing jobs digging down their driveways. I would not know where to start. I am so concerned that when it gets a little warmer and the snow on the roofs is going to get even more heavy that many are going to collapse under the weight of wet snow. I’m concerned about that now. Having grown up in Toronto I know of many of these places because our US TV came from there. Wishing them all the best in digging out.
I'm lucky being in Astoria,where the harshest weather is consistently 20 and under
I was right in the middle of this storm. Snowed in for three days. I wish I could post my pics here. They are incredible. My town got close to six feet of snow.
I live in north tx/southern ok area. We get half an inch and everyone freaks out and panic shops for all the necessities and there are tons of wrecks. I was born and lived in Pueblo CO until I was 10 though so I I’m just like…🙄 I’ve literally waited for the school bus while it was snowing and there was already several feet of snow. And thanks to that I was taught how to drive on snow and ice. Never had a wreck because of either. I try to stay in when it happens though because I don’t trust other drivers.
About ten minutes after it hit we were there. And it carried on for another two days.
Load More Replies...For context to my fellow Pandas: I grew up on the US Canadian border and spent a lot of time in the "snow belt" regions of both. It's not unusual for Buffalo to get a lot of snow. It usually stops after a meter or so to give people breathing space. (For the US Pandas, that's roughly 39 inches.)
We got a little snow and ice one year here in NC. Shut everything down. We had transplant people from New York asking why the sanders and snowplows weren't out clearing things. I replied with "because they don't want to invest huge amounts of money in something that only happens every 7-8 years." On that same note, I had NC people asking me what the metal tubes were in front of the tires of Washington State School buses. I said they were sanders to keep the buses from getting stuck on snowy hills. I'm just glad I now live where snow is a rare occasion.
Load More Replies...You know something's wrong when you're in Minnesota and there's only 2 inches of snow...
Lived south of Boston for the blizzard of '78 working at Cumberland's dairy farm and the head herdsman was from the Buffalo area who laughed as he mentioned "this is nothing but normal for me" - and he was spot on.
My husband is from PA and I’ve lived in NC my whole life. He said he doesn’t miss that weather.
Load More Replies...I find this so scary. When you can’t pull a snow plow out of the snow?!! People have done amazing jobs digging down their driveways. I would not know where to start. I am so concerned that when it gets a little warmer and the snow on the roofs is going to get even more heavy that many are going to collapse under the weight of wet snow. I’m concerned about that now. Having grown up in Toronto I know of many of these places because our US TV came from there. Wishing them all the best in digging out.
I'm lucky being in Astoria,where the harshest weather is consistently 20 and under
I was right in the middle of this storm. Snowed in for three days. I wish I could post my pics here. They are incredible. My town got close to six feet of snow.
I live in north tx/southern ok area. We get half an inch and everyone freaks out and panic shops for all the necessities and there are tons of wrecks. I was born and lived in Pueblo CO until I was 10 though so I I’m just like…🙄 I’ve literally waited for the school bus while it was snowing and there was already several feet of snow. And thanks to that I was taught how to drive on snow and ice. Never had a wreck because of either. I try to stay in when it happens though because I don’t trust other drivers.
