New York and Pennsylvania declare states of emergency due to heavy snow and cold wave after weekend
Freeways are clogged and crowds mobilize at Buffalo NFL Stadium out of fear.
However, heavy snowfall due to the lake effect from Lake Ontario fell all at once in the Tug Hill area, a mountainous area in New York State. For this reason, a maximum snowfall of 117cm was recorded in the Barneys Corners area.
Kevin Tiyo, a local business owner, said, “We are constantly busy shoveling snow. Yesterday we did nothing but shovel snow all day.”
Like other residents in the area, his truck is equipped with snow removal equipment during the winter. Sometimes, they even carry tractors with large buckets or snow removal fans to blow snow.
As for advice on preparing for snow, he said, “People who are not used to snow should just stay home. If you go outside, slow down to the minimum.”
‘Lake effect heavy snow’ may fall in lake areas. This is when the warm, moist air at the surface meets the colder, drier air at the upper level, forming a narrow and long heavy snow belt in the sky, and then a huge amount of heavy snow falls.
Because this type of snow piles up so quickly, the U.S. Army’s Fort Drum unit in a heavily snow-hit area near Watertown, New York, issued a snowfall warning. Heavy snowfall of 48 cm was forecast in this area during the day on Sunday the 1st.
All lanes of Interstate 90 in western New York, a 134-mile stretch of the interstate into Pennsylvania, were closed to private vehicles due to heavy snow forecast.
For this reason, an emergency was put in place to prepare the stadium ahead of Sunday, when the American football NFL finals were held. In preparation for the night game between the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco team, this place was attracting large crowds by offering food and hot drinks for $20 per hour.
Heavy lake effect snow fell near the Buffalo Bills’ home stadium in New York, with snow falling a few hours before the game. New York State transportation authorities also began a snow-clearing operation on nearby roads until the last minute. This is a common experience for the Buffalo Bills team during their home games at the end of the year.
Governor Cathy Hocal’s office announced on the 1st that 30 to 60 cm of snow will fall in western New York, and up to 90 cm of snow will fall in northern areas.
Because of this, there was a constant backlog of vehicles on New York-Pennsylvania Highway 90, and residents usually had to wait 9 to 10 hours before leaving after clearing the snow.
Some families had to give up watching the game and go home, or take a long detour to take a route with less snow.
New York and Pennsylvania declared states of emergency as temperatures plummeted below freezing last week due to the influx of cold Arctic air.
The U.S. National Weather Service forecasted that such heavy snow and extreme cold in the eastern region would spread to every third of the country on Monday the 2nd, and temperatures would drop by more than 1 degree below the average temperature.
Due to heavy lake-effect snowfall in the Michigan capital, the highlands around Lake Superior were buried in heavy snow exceeding 61cm on average. That much more snow is expected to fall in the future, Met Office forecaster Lily Chapman said.
Compared to the maximum snowfall of 69cm in the eastern region, only a little snow fell in Kentucky and West Virginia, predicting a beautiful snowy landscape suitable for the background of Christmas.
The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast that a cold wave will sweep through other regions, centered around the Appalachian Mountains, over the next few days, causing average temperatures to drop from -7 degrees Celsius to -12 degrees Celsius (C).
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