About six million people from Michigan to New York are under alerts for so-called lake effect snow.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has warned residents to stay home after a winter storm caused travel chaos in the north-eastern US.
However some people in the city have reacted positively to the snowfall, despite resulting travel delays and dangerous road conditions.
Even by western New York standards, Friday’s snowstorm was colossal, bringing eye-level accumulation totals to some areas and prompting officials to tell many people who are used to driving in bad weather to stay off the roads.
“I can say that our deputies have been just absolutely inundated with calls for service as it pertains to disabled motor vehicles and stranded motorists,” Erie County Undersheriff William J. Cooley said at a news conference Friday night as heavy, wet snow continued to fall. “We implore the residents to just, please, obey the travel ban, you become part of the problem very quickly when you’re out there on the streets.”
Snowfall totals reached 5 feet in at least two locations. Orchard Park, where the Buffalo Bills had been scheduled to play their now-relocated NFL game Sunday, had snowfall totals of up to 66 inches by Friday evening. Blasdell, about eight miles from Buffalo, recorded 65 inches as of 8:30 p.m.
The storm had contributred to two deaths. Two Erie County residents died after suffering cardiac events related to shoveling or blowing snow, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said earlier.
“We send our deepest sympathies and remind all that this snow is very heavy and dangerous,” Poloncarz tweeted. At the news conference he advised residents to wait another day before trying to clear out the snow.
Buffalo’s highest three-day snowfall is 56.1 inches, which occurred in December 2001. One area of the city reported almost 20 inches as of Friday morning.