Thundersnow hits Buffalo: Monster storm batters New York with up to 4 feet of snow

Asher Notheis

November 18, 11:26 AM November 18, 11:28 AM

People living in the western and northern parts of New York woke up on Friday morning to a blanket of thundersnow, a weather phenomenon caused by a fierce combination of snowfall and a thunderstorm.

Hamberg, a town roughly 12 miles from Buffalo, New York, is already covered in 20 inches of snow, with more snow expected to hit Buffalo throughout the weekend. Up to 4 feet of snow could fall in some areas of the state, leading to periods of time when residents have near-zero visibility, according to CBS News.

Thundersnow, which is what is hitting New York, occurs when snow falls instead of rain during a thunderstorm, leading to the lightning caused by the storm to appear brighter due to it reflecting off of the snow. The United States rarely experiences any thundersnow, only receiving 6.3 thundersnow storms annually, according to ABC 17.

MAN ARRESTED AFTER ENTERING NEW YORK TIMES BUILDING WITH A SWORD AND AX

The snowstorm continued to move more toward the city of Buffalo on Friday morning, bringing with it 3 inches of snow every hour, according to the National Weather Service Buffalo.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency on Wednesday, advising New Yorkers of dangerous travel conditions and local power outages caused by the storm. If planning to travel by vehicle during the storm, one should keep the gas tank at least half full at all times and travel with supplies, including a flashlight, a small shovel, a window scraper, and some blankets and sleeping bags, the governor's office recommends.

On Thursday night, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz declared a driving ban in response to the thundersnow. Due to reported power outages affecting some areas, Poloncarz warned residents on Friday not to approach downed power lines, even if there is a power outage in the area.

School administrators in Buffalo have canceled classes for Friday, and Amtrak stations in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Depew closed on Thursday and will remain closed Friday, according to the Buffalo News.

Ahead of the snowfall, the NFL announced that a game scheduled for Sunday between the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns has been relocated from Orchard Park, New York, to Detroit. The Bills have previously had to relocate a 2014 game against the New York Jets to Detroit due to a massive snowstorm in upstate New York.