Winter Storm Hits Eastern United States

Winter in Western New York and the North Eastern United States is characteristically snowy and cold. The Western New York area has a reputation for its big storms. This week has proven its reputation true with not one winter storm but two winter storms.

High winds rumbled through the Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York area on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 closing schools, downing power lines, and snapping tree branches and limbs. After a day of recuperating from that first winter storm the area woke up to more nasty wintery weather and winter storm number two.

Early Friday, February 1, 2008 started cold with the temperatures in the twenties with the temperature going up into the low thirties. There was a light covering of snow and a cold icy rain was coating the streets just in time for the morning commute. Schools were not closed, business was going on as usual and people were out scraping their vehicles in anticipation of a long day of winter weather. A Grand Island resident whose commute to work usually takes 8 minutes was on the road for over 30 minutes. Kathy C said, "The Grand Island Bridge was a mess and we were moving no faster than four miles per hour." Not to mention the time it took to clear off the car of ice and frozen rain.

According to The Weather Channel, a winter storm warning was in affect due to a storm system moving northeast from the Ohio Valley bringing two to six inches of snow and sleet as well as a significant ice accumulation in excess of a half an inch. Looking out the window throughout the day one would see rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. The weather was inconsistent which definitely made this winter storm interesting and tricky. Eighteen year old student, Meagan M said, "There was so much ice on my car my scrapper broke! It took over thirty minutes to clear my car of ice and it seemed like there was three inches of ice on it!" Three inches may have been an exaggeration but it is suffice to say that the ice was bad.

Mid-afternoon brought some rain and temperatures above freezing which actually helped because the ice wasn't as difficult to get off of the vehicles. Though evidence of the day's mixed precipitation was visible all over the area. Broken branches, from ice and frozen rain, littered the neighborhoods. Slush and ice covered the highways and streets. Local radio warned of accidents and tricky travel as the evening commute was pending.

A steady snowfall that was picturesque of greeting cards ensued as the evening commute hit late Friday afternoon and continued throughout the evening with accumulations of four to eight inches of snow depending on the location as this winter storm made its way through the area. Local weather channels predicted freezing rain after the snow late Friday night and into early Saturday.

The Western New York area is not the only ones who have been affected by this winter storm. This winter storm will continue moving through the Northeast United States throughout the weekend.