A massive snowstorm event hit Buffalo and it’s surrounding suburbs the week before Thanksgiving and caused quite a bit of damage. Roughy 5-7 feet of snow fell in some areas and at least 14 people died as a result of the snow.
Due to the nature of Lake Effect snow, we got little more than a couple of inches at our house but Mike’s family was in the 5-7 feet of snow area of the city. It took days before driving bans were lifted and roads were plowed enough to allow us to help them. Mike and Jackie spent a lot of time digging out their roof and making sure all was well with their parents.
People unfamiliar with Lake Effect snow (and even snow storm veterans) have a hard time grasping how different conditions can be in a small area.
I took this picture at roughly 1pm the day the storm started (while at work):
My sister in law took this picture from her house right after I took my picture:
My sister in law’s house is about 12-14 miles away from my work. It’s hard to tell but her picture shows probably 3 feet of snow while I was in the middle of a beautiful sunny day.
By that evening, the snow was approaching the top of her first floor windows while I could still see grass at our house:
Pictures from my ILs house with drifts around 7+ feet tall:
Standing on the roof of their house to clear snow:
Mike took the boys over to finish digging out the roof and car. Ian stayed inside to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa but Matthew played in the snow. The drifts were so tall next to their house that he could get on the roof just by walking up the drift. Eventually Mike and Jackie built him a sledding path to sled off the roof. LOL
My 6 year old reaching the roof from a snow drift:
http://youtu.be/gJCJSAS1C64
I’m not sure what the snow totals were by the end of the storm but they were estimating 75.7″ in the town my ILs live in:
Storm pictures from the Buffalo News linked here: Snowvember pictures
And, finally, I have to throw this one in there too:
Gotta have a sense of humor about it, right? 😉
(More memes HERE!)