Michael Rizzuto
Weather and Natural Disasters

Scenes from the snow: Be glad you're not in Buffalo

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Ben Berkowitz@BerkowitzBT
WATCH LIVE

Glad you're not in Buffalo?

Vehicles litter the highway in West Seneca. An autumn blizzard dumped a year's worth of snow on western New York state where five people died and residents, some stranded overnight in cars, braced for another pummelling expected later on Wednesday.
Reuters

Consider this: Parts of western New York got more snow Tuesday than other parts of the Northeast get in an entire winter.

According to the National Weather Service, some Buffalo suburbs approached an all-time national record for snow in 24 hours—roughly 76 inches.

Click through for more images from the historical snowstorm.

—By Ben Berkowitz
Published 19 Nov. 2014

Up to the gutters

Michael Rizzuto

As the snow fell some houses were buried all the way up to the gutters.

Local NBC affiliate WGRZ reported that the Red Cross had opened at least eight shelters to help those affected by the storm.

More snow coming

Snow covers a street at daybreak Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in south Buffalo, N.Y.
Carolyn Thompson | Reuters

Unfortunately for the region, there's more snow coming — according to the Weather Channel, another foot or 2 of snow is in store over the next few days.

Wall of snow

A lake-effect snow storm with freezing temperatures produces a wall of snow travelling over Lake Erie into Buffalo, New York. November 18, 2014.
Gary Wiepert | Reuters

This image is one of the most widely seen so far of the storm: a wall of snow rolling across Lake Erie on its way toward land.

As WGRZ explains it, this storm provided a perfect alignment of wind and other atmospheric conditions along the length of the lake, which whipped up snow to record proportions.

Digging out

A house snowed in after a massive snow storm in upstate New York.
Source: Brittany Czajka | Twitter | Weather Channel

Some people were lucky enough to dig themselves out, but others were less fortunate—like the Niagara University women's basketball team, whose bus got stuck for 24 hours in the snow.

National Guard called in.

Emergency workers standing next to a National Guard vehicle direct people to evacuate their cars in Cheektowaga New York.
Chris Brown

The National Guard was called in to help release people stranded in cars or otherwise affected by the storm. In this photo, two first responders standing next to a National Guard humvee direct people out of their cars.

Economic ripples?

Source: Mike Bettes | Twitter | Weather Channel

Even though the Buffalo area is used to snow, a storm like this is still a blow to a region enjoying a nascent economic recovery (though unemployment and job growth still lag national averages).

Snowbanks

People start to dig out after a massive snow storm in Upstate New York.
Jennifer Brommer for CNBC

Snowbanks up to people's chests are common with this storm, which killed at least five people as of Wednesday morning.

Help

A massive snow storm blankets upstate New York on Nov. 18, 2014.
Jay Godios for CNBC

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called in a variety of emergency resources to assist with storm recovery, including the National Guard.

Staying home

A massive snow storm blankets a home in Buffalo, New York on Nov. 18, 2014.
Jay Godios for CNBC

Not surprisingly given the magnitude of the storm, WGRZ reported nearly 900 school closing alerts as of mid-morning Wednesday.