Special Weather Statement for Buffalo,NY

[superstorm93]

Special Weather Statement
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
329 AM EDT FRI OCT 13 2006

NYZ001-002-010-011-085-131530-
NIAGARA-ORLEANS-NORTHERN ERIE-GENESEE-SOUTHERN ERIE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...NIAGARA FALLS...MEDINA...BUFFALO...
BATAVIA...ORCHARD PARK...SPRINGVILLE
329 AM EDT FRI OCT 13 2006

...HISTORIC RECORD SETTING SNOWFALL FOR THE NIAGARA FRONTIER...

A MAJOR EARLY SEASON LAKE EFFECT SNOW STORM CONTINUED TO HAMMER
THE REGION AROUND BUFFALO NEW YORK THROUGH THE WEE HOURS OF
FRIDAY MORNING.

BY 3AM, THE BUFFALO AIRPORT HAD RECEIVED 14 INCHES OF SNOW WITH
NEARLY 4 INCHES OCCURRING IN THE PAST HOUR. ELSEWHERE, IN THE
VILLAGE OF DEPEW, THE SNOW HAD QUICKLY PILED UP TO 24 INCHES SINCE
IT BEGAN LESS THAN 12 HOURS AGO. THIS IS AMAZING CONSIDERING THE
WATERS OF LAKE ERIE WERE A WARM 62 DEGREES AS THE SNOWBAND FORMED
LATE THURSDAY.

UTILITY COMPANIES WERE REPORTING WELL OVER 1000,000 CUSTOMERS
WITHOUT POWER. THE WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES WERE A RESULT OF A
COMBINATION OF VERY HEAVY WATER LADEN SNOW ACCUMULATING ON TREES
THAT STILL HAVE MOST OF THEIR LEAVES. TREES LIMBS BREAK UNDER THE
WEIGHT OF THE SNOW AND BRING DOWN POWER LINES AS WELL. TREE DAMAGE
ACROSS THE AREA HAS BEEN VERY SIGNIFICANT.

THE ENTIRE AREA THE STORM HAS AFFECTED IS ONLY ABOUT 25 MILES
WIDE, EXTENDING FROM ORCHARD PARK IN CENTRAL ERIE
COUNTY...NORTHWARD THROUGH THE CITY OF BUFFALO TO NIAGARA FALLS.
STORM TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO TOP OUT IN THE RANGE OF 18 TO 30
INCHES PARTICULARLY IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF ERIE COUNTY. BRISK
WELL ALIGNED WINDS WILL EXTEND THE BAND AS FAR INLAND AS THE
WESTERN SUBURBS OF ROCHESTER AT TIMES. AT THE SAME TIME, NO SNOW
AT ALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE TRADITIONAL SNOWBELT AREA WELL
SOUTH OF BUFFALO.

THE SNOWBAND WILL STAY LOCKED IN ACROSS THE AREA WITHIN A FEW
MILES OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO THROUGH THE MORNING RUSH HOUR THEN
GRADUALLY DRIFT NORTHWARD OUT OF THE AREA AND WEAKEN AS THE
MORNING PROGRESSES.

DRIVING BANS EXIST IN MANY COMMUNITIES. IN ADDITION, IN AREAS
WHERE POWER OUTAGES HAVE OCCURRED, DO NOT WALK AROUND OUTSIDE
UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. YOU COULD CONTACT DOWNED POWER LINES
AND RISK ELECTROCUTION.

[TexasSam]

Special Weather Statement
BY 3AM, THE BUFFALO AIRPORT HAD RECEIVED 14 INCHES OF SNOW WITH
NEARLY 4 INCHES OCCURRING IN THE PAST HOUR. ELSEWHERE, IN THE
VILLAGE OF DEPEW, THE SNOW HAD QUICKLY PILED UP TO 24 INCHES SINCE
IT BEGAN LESS THAN 12 HOURS AGO. THIS IS AMAZING CONSIDERING THE
WATERS OF LAKE ERIE WERE A WARM 62 DEGREES AS THE SNOWBAND FORMED
LATE THURSDAY.

UTILITY COMPANIES WERE REPORTING WELL OVER 1000,000 CUSTOMERS
WITHOUT POWER. THE WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES WERE A RESULT OF A
COMBINATION OF VERY HEAVY WATER LADEN SNOW ACCUMULATING ON TREES
THAT STILL HAVE MOST OF THEIR LEAVES. TREES LIMBS BREAK UNDER THE
WEIGHT OF THE SNOW AND BRING DOWN POWER LINES AS WELL. TREE DAMAGE
ACROSS THE AREA HAS BEEN VERY SIGNIFICANT.

I wonder if this is a error? "UTILITY COMPANIES WERE REPORTING WELL OVER 1000,000 CUSTOMERS
WITHOUT POWER." If the coma was in the right place that would be 1,000,000 (1 Million)!!!

[superstorm93]

Thanks for the newest report TexasSam... And ya that is an error it is 125,000 so far... I seen that to and i thought that was crazy..

[tomboudreau]

You have to remember....most of the trees up there are still in leaf...and those trees are probably very close to power lines, so when they start snapping, the power lines start going down as well.