Western New York turned into the Ninth Circle of Hell with everything frozen as Arctic winds of 70 mph whipped into the area on Friday, December 23, 2022. A Lake Effect snow band dropped 53 inches of snow on the Buffalo Airport–which promptly closed (it just opened Wednesday, December 28 after being closed for FIVE days).
Gale force winds ravaged the area non-stop. Although the TV weather-guessers warned everyone all week long, thousands of people were surprised by the swiftness and ferocity of the Blizzard. Many people found themselves in white-out conditions. Others got stuck. Others, trapped in their cars by the wind driven snow, died.
Thousands of people in Western NY, mostly in Buffalo, lost power for days. National Grid released a statement saying their crews could not work on the power lines if the wind speed was over 40 miles per hour. Well, the winds didn’t go below 40 mph for days so people died from the arctic temperature in unheated houses.
The streets were impassible so the Mayor of Buffalo and the County Executive of Erie County got on the radio, TV, and social media to warn people that First Responders would NOT be able to rescue anyone until conditions improved. If you left your house and got stuck no one was going to rescue you. More people died.
The Blizzard dissipated on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 but thousands of tons of snow clogged the streets, collapsed roofs, and made restoring power slow and difficult.
Western NY is slowly recovering. We drove Patrick and Katie to the reopened Buffalo Airport and they were able to fly to New York City without problems. Diane’s friend, Johanna, who lives a block away from us, lost power on Friday, December 23, 2022. She thought the power would come back on, but it didn’t. When she came to our Christmas Dinner, she told Diane she had been without power for three days and the temperature in her house was 40 degrees.
Diane said, “You are staying here with us until your power comes back on.” Three days later, Johanna’s power came back on. The cause: the powerful winds cracked a power pole in half and the wiring fell into the snow and was buried. EIGHT National Grid vehicles and a dozen workmen finally got that problem fixed.
Enduring a catastrophic weather event is No Fun. But we had Patrick and Katie to help us deal with the snow and the cold. We rescued Johanna. I snowblowed the sidewalks and driveways in my neighborhood. If you work together, you can survive just about anything.
And, I prefer my Blizzards from Dairy Queen!
My heart goes out to the people in your area, George. Between Big Orange and your generator, you were as prepared for this as anyone could be. Your neighbors must be counting their lucky stars you are their neighbor. I fear storms like this may be coming more often than anyone would like. Stay safe.
Jerry, you’re right on the money: we had a storm that dumped 70 inches of snow on Western NY in November 2022. A month later we get this three-day Blizzard event that paralyzed Buffalo, shut down the Airport for five days, and resulted in thousands of people going without power–in extreme cold–for days. It’s hard to imagine how to prepare for such an catastrophe.
Truly horrific pictures. We were very lucky to avoid the snow largely but the wind and cold was terrifying.
Patti, the 70 mph winds howled here for days! It picked up snow and created a white curtain around everything. We couldn’t see the houses across the street!
I’m so glad you guys were prepared and came through the storm with minimal damage. Unfortunately, so many people seemed to be caught off-guard by the storm and its accumulated effects. I don’t mess with weather: our “arctic conditions” last week were nothing like yours (temperatures in the teens, no snow and little rain), but we made sure our outside pipes were wrapped and faucets covered while we kept the inside faucets running. An ounce of prevention, as they say.
Deb, an ounce of prevention, indeed. We did not venture out during the Blizzard. But many people did…and got trapped in their cars. Over a 1000 cars have been towed off snow-clogged roads so the snow plows could clear them. And, despite a week of weather warnings, people walked around in the Blizzard, got disoriented, and got frost-bite or died in a snowdrift. The temps are supposed to hit 50 degrees today and that will melt a lot of snow…and reveal new bodies.
Good to hear that you could help your neighbour!
In Europe we aren’t used to this kind of weather, probably because of the Gulf Stream that produces lower temperature differences.
I’ll never forget the ice that we saw at the Niagara Falls, hadn’t expected that. And then we visited a winery near Niagara on the Lake, couldn’t believe at first that it gets warm enough for grapes – and peach trees even.
Wolf, we’re no strangers to winter storms, but in the past few years we’ve been hit with these massive storms. No matter how you prepare, the magnitude of the event overwhelms a lot of people!
I kept telling Jackie not to worry, that you had a generator and Big Orange ready. The pictures were truly horrendous, though I must admit to loving those amazing shots of the buildings by the lake that were encased in icy stalactites, though I wouldn’t have wanted to be trapped inside one!
Jeff, that’s one reason why we don’t live near water. The people who live on Lake Erie who found their houses encased in ice have Real Problems!
amazing/ Glad you were prepared and able to help neighbors. Randy McPherson who lives somewhere in the area posted that he had 101 inches prior to the solstice.
hopefully people will learn and the GOP will finally agree to work with the dems on global warming and climate change.
Maggie, it’s hard to believe but plenty of people are Climate Change Deniers. Some of them lost their lives in the Blizzard when they misjudged the fury of the storm!
Be safe and smart, George.
I don’t want you folks to be casualties of the Blizzard of 2022.
Beth, the worst of the Blizzard of 2022 is over. Now, everyone is worried about flooding as all that snow begins to melt this weekend!
I’m so happy you and yours made it through. The things I was seeing on TV were like a horror movie. I was in the USAF from 1968-72, and the last two years were spent at Griffiss AFB in Rome NY, and the first winter there the snowfall was 180+ inches, or so they said. I don’t know that I ever really believed it. But that was for the entire winter, not a few days. And it was just snow, not a storm. But it was really something for this kid from Atlanta who’d never seen more than 1-2 inches, and that only once. But I came to love the area, and they were so adept at dealing with the snow that it never kept me from doing anything I wanted to do. And I loved upstate NY so much that I almost decided to stay. I hope you don’t get another one of these, but the weather has gone batshit crazy, so I wouldn’t count on it. You do seem to be well prepared.
Michael, we’re as prepared as we can be: extra food, extra bottled water, natural gas generator tuned up and ready to go, plenty of gas in our vehicles. Between the November snow storm and the December Blizzard, we’re at 100 inches of snow so far. And we have three months of Winter ahead of us!
You call this a storm? Pshaw! Why, back in ’67 it was so cold your words froze in the air before they could reach the ears of the person next to you! A wad of spit turned into an ice pellet before it hit the ground! Every car became an igloo and the snow was piled so high on rooftops the side walls bowed out! Mice could ice skate in your bathtub! Now, that was a storm!
Bob, I invite you to come to Buffalo for the next Blizzard and let’s see what you say then!
Give me one worthy of my steel!
Or of one’s aluminum snow shovel. New Jersey lucked out, at least in our area, essentially all year.