Weather shuts down Western New York

If you’re planning on travelling south though the Buffalo area, just don’t. That’s the message from U.S. weather officials because just across the Niagara River, a blizzard warning remains in effect for the Buffalo area until 6pm Wednesday night. It’s the first blizzard warning for Buffalo since 1993 and by the time it’s all said and done, some areas could see as much as three feet of snow which is about one metre. And in counties east of Buffalo, travel bans have been issued meaning no one should be on the road. It’s the first travel ban in that area since the blizzard of 1977.

And videos posted on YouTube give us some indication as to why drivers need to stay off the roads. This video was posted today, taken in Buffalo about 7 minutes from the border. As mentioned conditions are so bad that travel bans are in effect. In fact, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered, the closure of Interstate 90 in both directions. The highway is closed heading southwest from Buffalo to the Pennsylvania state line. And heading east from Buffalo to Rochester as well. That’s a 200 kilometer stretch. And in addition to the road closures, it appears all flights have been cancelled at Buffalo/Niagara International Airport.

And this was the scene on neighbourhood streets earlier today about a ten minute drive from the airport and near the Buffalo Zoo. That’s also about an eleven minute drive from the Peace Bridge border crossing. As you can see, blowing snow there is reducing visibility to zero at times.

And this video posted on YouTube today shows the snowy conditions at a parking lot in Buffalo. Now, in addition to this blizzard, people across the border are also dealing with wind chills similar the ones we’re experiencing here.