WNY Weather

[redhat]

We are under a blizzard warning here in WNY. Also, Cuomo has put many counties, including mine, Erie County under a State of Emergency. Can't see more than 10 feet away outside.

The drive home was interesting, between the mounds of snow and whiteouts. But, slow and steady was the key. The Blizzaks on the Accord did well. Many 4WD trucks and tractor trailers are in the median/ditch on the mainline 90. The mainline 90 is closed for about 60 miles from the Williamsville Exit to the PA State line. Also, our main Southern-Tier Expressway, the 219, is closed along with the 400 and the Skyway into Buffalo along the lake. Travel bans in many towns/villages and no necessary travel in our county.

We've got plenty of food in the house, have power and all utilities, generator is ready with plenty of fuel for the furnace and fridges and boss man has no problem with me working from home tomorrow.

 

[oilmutt]

My son graduated from the state university at Buffalo. My advice is to head to the Anchor Bar set down with a plate of buffalo wings and a local brew and let the storm blow over!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Syracuse isn't too bad, just real windy. North of me, I81 is closed to Watertown!

 

[redhat]

The wings and beer sounds good... maybe tomorrow for lunch since I'll be home I should fire up the fryer.

 

[Bandito440]

A friend of mine is trying to navigate her way to Syracuse right now. Pulaski should be fun. 4+ feet of snow in the next 24 hours, it looks like.

 

[zzd]

I am between Batavia and Rochester, and it isn't bad. I have a son in Erie and they are -9F, 40 MPH winds and heavy snow.

 

[SLCraig]

In the 4 years I have worked at the place I am at, I have never seen every highway closed in both close by counties.

Eventually one of the highways opened up so we went home, but the visibility was poor from the insane gusting wind/snow.

Quite the weather we having... -25C feels like -41 with windchill. Yikes!

 

[bvance554]

I used to live in Orchard Park (and miss the winters) but that sounds like a typical lake effect event. I always appreciated the closing of the roads. No need to close work, just close the roads. As long as you're at home everything is good

 

[zpa]

So there the winter went then. Here in Southern Finland its now +3C outside and no sign of first snow yet. Miserable drizzle and fog for weeks now. And we're supposed to be north, at 60N and all..

 

[ronbo]

WNY weather pattern for snow, 18 miles wide by 60 miles deep, lake effect pattern. At 7:00 am 0F with wind chill , feels like -27F.

Erie County Health Commissioner said to not even step outside. I concur.

Polar Vortex is tech term for what's happening to most of the country with the brutal cold. Parts of Maine are warmer than Georgia today.

NOTE: most locals claim DUFF"S has better/cheaper wings than the Anchor Bar and certainly better/safer locations.

 

[CharBaby]

-5 deg's F here in Rochester(or there abouts in surrounding areas) this morning and very windy. Up to 40 mph winds and the wind chill is close to -40 deg's F

Did a good deal of grocery shopping this past weekend and filled up the gas tanks in the cars. I've never invested in a portable generator but, I certainly should! In 30 years in our house, we've lost power ~ 4X for only a few minutes to a few hours. Only lost powere fort 2 full days only once.

 

[supton]

Yep, I have had a hard time justifying getting a generator. Want one, but not the headache of upkeep. In 8 years I've only needed it once. That once would have paid for itself, as I needed it for three days--and it could have easily been longer. I had friends w/o power for over a week after that storm, and I got power back right before a cold snap too.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Was 0 before wind chill this morning. Car made some funny noise.

Last night was brutal with the wind chill. I had a low tire on the Focus that had to be taken care of. Was outside for about 5 minutes, with gloves, and couldn't feel my fingers by the time I was done.

My entry door faces west and all of the wind hits it straight on. Luckily I put some weather stripping around the door a few months ago, put a towel along the bottom of the door. Kept the cold out. Pulled the cat box and food/water out into the living room and shut the bedroom off for the night .... didn't want to waste money heating it.

Stay safe everyone, especially those getting snow!

 

[redhat]

It's clear where I am now but there is a lot of snow blowing around. The lake effect band is shifting north ATM but is supposed to come back and still give us a lot of snow. When I woke up the thermometer read -13. Didn't start the Accord, no need to, probably would start no problem though.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I was checking on the traffic cams, some places still seem to be pretty bad.

They "closed" 81 again. Apparently people were driving up and down unplowed 81.

Unfortunately, closing interstates is the new thing. Seems to happen every storm now.

 

[redhat]

Yeah I know. Seems like they started to close the 90 here after the storm a few years back where a lot of motorists were stranded.

They put these gates up to "close off" the 90 but the News guys were driving around in the storm last night (not too smart IMO) and a lot of the gates were up! The News showed one tractor trailer getting on the thruway at a open gate that was supposed to be closed!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

They let the news stations say that 81 was closed but did not put up barriers. All night troopers were picking people up (and charging them with misdemeanors).

Barriers are up now is my understanding.

 

[andrewg]

Been to WNY many times....I think the spring/summer/fall is really nice. The winters? Depressing. While the first big snow is rather refreshing....after a month, it wears off quickly. Terrible snow storms, bitter cold, windy at times....and the salted roads along with the constant freeze/thaw cycles....just drove me nuts. Trying to walk, let alone drive out of ones driveway can be a real chore (due to snow plow berm that often freezes solid). Got a nice car? Don't drive it from November through late March....or it will suffer from corrosion sooner than expected.
Sorry....don't mean to put down that area. I'm just glad that all I have to deal with is rain during the winter.

 

[redhat]

Yeah I hear ya, Carwell/rustproofing keeps a lot of cars in decent shape from the salt.

 

[Cujet]

Just an FYI, I'm in shorts and short sleeves today. South Florida has it's strong points! But, it is at the limit of comfort for such clothing, at a "frigid" 65 degrees near the water and 55 degrees inland...