Update on November 22, 13:50 (IST): Warm-up flood alert in New York
After a new spell of snowfall, that lashed and pounded the city of Buffalo for the third day in a row, a ‘warm – up flood’ alert has been issued for the state of New York.
The city of Buffalo, which had already been reeling under heavy snowfall could be left buried under eight feet of snow. The new spell of snowstorm moved across Buffalo to the southern towns and dumped record breaking snow. At least eight people have lost their lives as a result of the storm.
There has been unprecedented snowfall this year with freezing temperatures over a large area. According to Skymet, there is going to be a rise in temperatures with maximums going as high as 15.5°C, during the weekend. Consequently, considerable amount of the snow is likely to melt.
There are also chances of heavy rain in the area. Rain water coupled with melting snow could lead to floods. Thus, people living in the area have been advised to stay alert and be prepared for the floods.
Update on November 20, 13:30 (IST): Snowstorm wreaks havoc in western New York, more snow expected
Lake-effect snowstorm continues to lash parts of western New York. The region has already witnessed up to 65 inches of snow in Buffalo suburbs, bringing it to standstill. As per the latest forecast, threat of fresh spell of snow looms large over the region in the next 48 hours.
At least, six people have reported being killed in Erie County, the worst affected region. One death has also been reported from Batavia County. In view of the inclement weather conditions, a state of emergency was declared across 10 lake snowbelt counties by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, road traffic has come to a halt as major highways are closed since Wednesday. In addition to this, schools and business houses have also shutdown.
Record cold arctic air has resulted in major lake-effect snowstorm across the Great Lakes snowbelts, creating havoc in western and central New York, northwest Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, northern and western Michigan, and far northern Wisconsin. Both Michigan and Wisconsin have witnessed over 24 inches of snow.
Update on 4th November: Historic Snowfall cripples South Carolina
More than 80,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Monday in Maine after a storm dumped up to 21 inches of snow on parts of the state. Due to the blizzard like situations, dozens of car slid off the road on most of Monday.
The blast of wintry weather plummeted south from the Arctic, forming a storm in the southern U.S. that roared up the coast. South Carolina got its earliest snowfall ever over the weekend.
Update on 3rd November : The season of record breaking weather activities continues as November began with a record breaking snowfall in South Carolina over the weekend. As the sun crouched completely in the sky, the record breaking unprecedented and unexpected snow blanketed Columbia, South Carolina and many people woke up to a freezing Monday Morning in parts of Southeast.
South Carolina Mountains received a couple of inches of snow due to an early seasonal gust of cold air on Saturday. The cold air first interrupted the Halloween celebrations in the Great Lakes down to the central Appalachians on Friday. As it pushed further south on Saturday, the snow covered central South Carolina. it further led to 21 inch snowfall in Maine on Sunday.
Chicago too witnessed its first measurable Halloween snow on record early Friday.
The cold winds caused waves up to 20 feet on the Lake Michigan leading to flood that hampered the commute over the past weekend.
Power outages and record low temperatures were experienced over the wintery weekend.
The early snowfall was caused by a jet stream carrying cold air that pushed southward and led to formation of a low pressure system that resulted in snow. Due to this, Tennessee observed almost 13 inches of snow near Hartford.
A thick snow cover that had amazed people of South Carolina was observed a century ago in 1913 on 9th November.