By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – All across upstate New York, people sought ways to keep warm Friday and Saturday as an arctic cold system encrusted the region.
In Buffalo, the temperature early Saturday morning dropped to seven below zero, tying the record low set in 1982. That followed a high temperature Friday of only four above.
The bitter cold was enough Friday for the Syracuse City School District to cancel classes for 22,000 students. Several other surrounding school districts did likewise. All schools in Western New York remained open Friday.
"Not only do we have kids waiting at bus stops, we have a lot of walkers," said Neil Driscoll, a school district spokesman. "Temperatures this low are dangerous."
"It is the coldest weather of the season so far," said meteorologist Stan Levine of the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service. It won't be as cold Saturday night. An early low of five above is forecast, but temperatures will start rising into the upper 20s by Sunday.
In addition to the severe cold, lake effect snow continued to fall Friday off Lake Ontario in Niagara and Orleans Counties. Most of the activity was reported north of Route 104.