Thursday night: Rain, hilltop fog, mountain snow. Temperatures slowly climb through the 40s. Friday: Windswept rain and downpours, strong gusts cause some power outages. Highs in the 50s until a freeze Friday evening.
The intersect of a major winter storm and a major holiday meet, and are making for messy travel across the Eastern U.S. Forecasters from the Buffalo, New York National Weather Service office call this a “once-in-a-generation storm…”
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So far, it’s living up to that criteria.
Rare Blizzard Warnings have been issued for Buffalo, New York. Prior to today, the last time the area went under such a warning was nearly three years ago. The region is used to feet of snow, but with the combination of blowing winds and reduced visibility, it isn’t the snow alone that will cause issues.
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Here's a breakdown of the numbers so far as we watch the storm's effects in other parts of the country.
Storm size
Weather
This winter storm has ushered in a polar plunge with wind chill alerts in 37 of the lower 48 states. Wind chill warnings stretch more than 200 miles from Washington state to Florida.
Wave heights
Significant wave heights beyond 20 feet will crank along all of the Great Lakes, turning them into oceans.
Temperature records
All Time Low-Temperature Record: -42°F (Casper, Wyoming). The wind chill was -76°F…the air is extremely dry. It won’t get *that* cold in New England, but we are forecasting wind chill temperatures below zero on Saturday morning.
Wind speeds
Maximum Wind Speed: Along the Red River in Oklahoma (near the Texas-Oklahoma state line) a 69MPH wind gust was recorded. This will be in line with what we’re anticipating in New England as the storm barrels in Friday. Gusts along the Cape and Islands will reach 60mph Friday. Boston is under a High Wind Warning for the first time in 244 days. The persistent winds throughout Friday coupled with two high tide cycles will lead to minor coastal flooding on the South Coast.
Snowfall totals
24-Hour Snowfall: Tofte, Minnesota has recorded nearly a foot of snowfall from this storm, and it’s expected to dump between 2 and 3 feet of lake effect snow in the greater Buffalo, New York area.
Flight delays and cancellations
Flight Delays & Cancellations: According to FlightAware, 3,716 flights have been delayed so far today, and just under 2,000 flights have been canceled.
Snow removal equipment at the ready
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has more than 400,000 gallons of liquid de-icer for runways and taxiways.
For perspective, that’s 20 average swimming pools worth of de-icer. The average swimming pool takes 18,000-20,000 gallons of water to fill.
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