Governor Kathy Hochul said on Friday that a State of Emergency has been imposed in many counties in Western New York due to the winter storm that is expected to hit this weekend.
A State of Emergency was declared shortly before 2:45 p.m. in the counties of Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Genesee, Allegany, and Wyoming. The Fredonia Office of Emergency Management declared that travel is prohibited in the Village of Fredonia and the Town of Pomfret for the duration of the snowstorm.
At noon on Sunday, the City of Dunkirk reclassified its travel prohibition as an advise. In a social media post, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that while all of the county’s driving bans were lifted Sunday morning, a travel advisory is still in force for most of the southern and central regions.
During a news conference on Friday, Poloncarz stated that several municipalities in Southern Erie County, including Brant, Eden, Evans, Hamburg, and portions of Orchard Park, are anticipated to experience a “extreme impact.”
A maximum of six inches is predicted for northern Erie County. A State of Emergency was imposed in a number of other New York counties.
State of Emergency Declared
Although there won’t be any snowfall during Sunday night’s Bills game, the days and hours before the game are predicted to bring 20 to 30 inches of snow to the area surrounding Highmark Stadium.
To make it safer for fans to travel, Hochul said Sunday afternoon that Department of Transportation workers are clearing snow from state roadways surrounding the stadium.
Additionally, she stated that Western New York could receive an extra one to two feet of snowfall, with the highest accumulation potential being in northern Chautauqua County and south-central Erie County.
On Friday, snow started to fall across a large portion of the region. The regions off the lake, such as Southern Erie County and Chautauqua County, are predicted to receive several feet of snow.
Beginning on Friday, higher elevation regions south of Rt. 20A will be the primary focus of the greatest lake-effect potential. Chautauqua County is experiencing lake snow that began late Friday night and continued into Saturday morning.
Later on Saturday, people heading north from Buffalo were predicted to experience snowfall with just modest accumulations.
Whiteout conditions were predicted for Friday and Saturday due to winds of up to 30 mph. According to Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon, the City of Buffalo’s winter parking policies will take effect at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Erie County and the City of Buffalo have declared Friday night a Code Blue.