An Arctic blast set off a major lake-effect snowstorm across the Great Lakes, dumping feet of snow on parts of western and central New York and additional snow on northwest Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, northern and western Michigan and far northern Wisconsin.
"By the time all is said and done, parts of Upstate New York could be buried in over 5 feet of new snow," said weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
At least four storm-related deaths were reported in Buffalo, New York, Tuesday night in a statement by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. One person died in an automobile accident, and the three other deaths are possibly due to cardiac complications, WBFO reports.
Road closures were reported all across the region. A stretch of I-90 over 100 miles long from Rochester, New York, to the Pennsylvania State Line is shutdown due to white-out conditions. Around 140 vehicles are reportedly stranded on the road, according to Poloncarz. Snow was so heavy in some places that even snow plows were getting stuck. In West Seneca, New York, 10 of the city's 22 snow plows were reportedly stuck out on roads.
Tuesday night, Amtrak released a statement suspending service between Albany, New York, Ontario, Canada, and Cleveland, Ohio, (among other locations) until Wednesday afternoon.
Officials in Erie County, New York, declared a state of emergency due to impossible driving conditions. Travel bans were also in place across the area to prevent additional people from getting stuck in the snow.
The snow's effects reached such an extent that New York Gov. Cuomo deployed the National Guard.
“We are deploying the National Guard to ramp up efforts to keep Western New York residents safe and to assist storm recovery efforts in any way possible," Cuomo said Tuesday.
School closures were reported from western Michigan to western New York Tuesday due to the lake-effect snow event. Traffic accidents added up, prompting the closure of roads in Michigan, Indiana and New York.
http://www.wunderground.com/news/lake-effect-snow-new-york-michigan-indiana-ohio-wisconsin-pennsylvania-20141118
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