News•November 21, 2014

Picture This: A Year's Worth of Snow in One Week

If you’ve been on social media at all this week, you’ve seen the crazy pictures of the massive snowfall in the Buffalo area. The snow, which reached a staggering 7 feet in the worst-hit areas, came thanks to two bouts of lake effect snow set off when frigid Arctic air swept over still-warm Lake Erie. The air sopped up moisture from the lake and dumped it for hours on end as snow on the lake’s eastern shore.

As we did last week when the sudden influx of unseasonably cold temperatures swept across the nation, we’re devoting all of this week’s Picture This column to Buffalo’s sensational snowfall.

Snowed In

While Buffalo is no stranger to lake effect snow and the significant totals it can rack up, this event was a lot even for Buffalonians.

The mind-boggling snowfalls — the largest of which was 88 inches, in Cowlesville, N.Y. — were the result of something of a perfect storm of conditions: The air moving over the lakes was unusually cold, and the lake water was still warm — a temperature contrast that set up a vigorous snow-making situation. The air was also blowing in from the southwest, traveling over the full length of the lake, leading to maximum moisture uptake. And the swath of snow refused to budge, blasting the same area with 3-5 inches of snow an hour.

The ensuing pileup had draw-dropping results, as the snow got so high that it fully blocked off many a doorway:

OOOOF! MT @EdRussoWSBT: This is what snowed in really means. Pic:Jessica Marie in West Senaca NY via @GregPollak: pic.twitter.com/DHu0ZTNa1Q

— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) November 19, 2014

And even busted in windows:

Yeesh. RT @Davdar22D: #WGRZsnow little help here ..... pic.twitter.com/RYI1Qinrh7

— Tim Ballisty (@IrishEagle) November 19, 2014

Because some folks were still traveling before the full force of the event became clear, roads became hazardous car traps, with hundreds of vehicles stuck fast:

RT @TheBuffaloNews: On the way to work, stuck 30 hours on Thruway… and counting. http://t.co/ZoTKyeBgiK pic.twitter.com/fhSIrLcak2

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 19, 2014

When the snows finally stopped (briefly, before another round started up a day later), folks ventured outside and wondered at the new landscape. Take these kids playing in the snow in front of a house. That thing they’re walking around? That’s the mailbox.

Here's how much it snowed in Alden. That's a mailbox. https://t.co/3kwujl5Vop

— WGRZ (@WGRZ) November 19, 2014

Amazing Arials

Some of the photos that best showed the full scope of the event where the ones taken from above:

MT @TheBuffaloNews: In Depew, they start to dig themselves out with dustpans http://t.co/fP81az0ctt (@DerekGeePhoto) pic.twitter.com/Nx8ISivJnf

— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) November 20, 2014

Cars in the lot at a dealership in Orchard Park #snowvember pic.twitter.com/koKRwOxBEX

— Derek Gee (@DerekGeePhoto) November 19, 2014

One man in West Seneca, NY, decided to see the impact on his town using his drone, yielding some amazing footage:

Another photo, taken by someone landing at Buffalo’s airport at night showed the power of the first snowstorm, as well as its sharp cutoff. Only a few miles away from some of the hardest hit areas, there was just a dusting.

Amazing nighttime view of #LakeEffect #Snow band near Buffalo- RT @JamesAFry: Landing in #Buffalo at 11pm pic.twitter.com/l5gLDAeT7b

— Ari Sarsalari (@AriWeather) November 19, 2014

Thundersnow!

The vigor of the storms — thanks to that stark temperature contrast between air and water — was also clear from the thundersnow it produced:

Snow Pups

And we couldn’t end this collection of images without including a few of man’s best friend. Dogs in the area had some amusing reactions to the sudden appearance of mounds of snow.

This one looks confused (presumably about how he or she is supposed to get outside to do their business):

I don't think that shovel is going to cut it. RT @spann: East Lancaster, NY… Photo from Tara Schwab #nywx pic.twitter.com/m0w71kvb2M

— Mike Favetta (@TweetsTheWx) November 18, 2014

Another was rocking some goggles and having a blast:

One little pooch enjoying running around in the snow that was dumped on Buffalo (complete with ski goggles!).
Credit: WIVB-TV News 4 Buffalo, NY

Of course, not all dogs were happy about the situation:

Not happy MT @Sarai_AZ: @HazelPennicott @JimCantore I thought the humans are having trouble! Stop the snow machine! pic.twitter.com/862yxW3zT0

— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) November 20, 2014

Hope he was able to thaw out!