‘Blizzard-like conditions’ hit Western New York this weekend, Erie County under travel ban

After an unseasonably warm winter thus far, Western New York is experiencing a significant snow storm this weekend. And it's not over yet.

Between Sunday and Monday, the storm is expected to move back and forth over Erie County, and according to Meteorologist Bob Hamilton from the National Weather Service. Everyone south of Niagara Falls can expect another one to two feet of snow during this time.

The wind Sunday will not be as strong as Saturday, but will be coming from the southwest at 20 miles per hour, with gusts up to 35 to 40 miles per hour. Those gusts will begin to drop to 30 mph Sunday night and down to 25 mph Monday.

What you need to know

• As of 8:30 p.m. Sunday most of Erie County is still under a travel ban, except for the communities of Colden, Collins, Concord, Holland, North Collins, Sardinia, Grand Island, Tonawanda (city and town), Amherst, Clarence and Newstead which are under travel advisory. The I-290 and I-190 will still be closed.
• At 6 a.m. Monday all of Erie County will be downgraded to a travel advisory, except for Lackawanna, Lancaster and Cheektowaga which will remain under a travel ban. Only essential workers and those permitted by the county are allowed on the roads during a travel ban. Other drivers will be ticketed.

• Sanitation in the City of Buffalo and Town of Amherst will be pushed back by a day this week, so residents should prepare to put out their garbage and recycling a day later than normal.
• Buffalo has issued a Code Blue for Sunday night. 586 Genesee St (accessible, open 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.) and The Salvation Army, 960 Main St (accessible, open 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) will be open as overnight shelters. 586 Genesee St will be open as a daytime warming shelter on Monday. You can visit the NFTA METRO Transportation Center between 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. for bus tickets to the shelter. You can text CodeBlueBuffalo to 898-211 for updates
• The NFTA has restored limited service, but delays are expected due to weather. Check www.metro.nfta.com for updates.
• The Buffalo Niagara International Airport is open, however you should check with the airline you're flying with as many flights have been canceled and the travel ban is still in place. The NFTA says they are accommodating incoming flights at the airport due to the travel ban.
• FeedMore WNY's annual MLK Day of Service has been cancelled.

Updates as of Sunday, 3:30 P.M.

Governor Kathy Hochul held a winter storm update at 2:45 p.m.

At 3:30 p.m. the communities of Grand Island, Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence & Newstead will be removed from the travel advisory. Colden, Collins, Concord, Holland, North Collins and Sardinia were removed at 8 a.m. All other cities, towns and villages still under a travel ban.

Hamburg is one of the communities being hit the hardest and still under a travel ban. WBFO's Alex Simone spoke with Town of Hamburg Supervisor Randy Hoak ahead of the Governor's press conference.

"We're doing okay down here in Hamburg, we have limited to no visibility on most, if not all of our roadways. The overnight hours were calm as far as traffic management in any incidents, which gave our plow drivers departments ample time to keep up with the accumulation of snowfall" Hoak said.

With limited visibility, unsafe conditions, and the risk of a ticket for violating a driving ban, Hoak urges the public not to drive in banned towns, like Hamburg.

"Right now, we are seeing some traffic, there's some folks that are out and about. And we would encourage people to please continue to stay home, so that our plow drivers, as well as the utility workers, the linemen and line women, can ensure power to homes and that we can stay ahead of the snowfall for this event," Hoak said.

You can watch Hochul's update here:

Updates as of Sunday, 2 P.M.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is provided a live update at 2 p.m. You can that watch here:

The mayor said the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration scheduled for Sunday night has been postponed until January 21st from 6 to 9 p.m. and the Sabres game scheduled for Monday has been pushed up to 12 p.m. Brown says the city feels confident they will be ready for the Sabres game Monday.

He adds, however, the travel ban is still in place Sunday until further notice, and so far the city has written 164 tickets. Tickets for driving during a travel ban are $75, according to Brown.

The city also has the following emergency warming centers open: Delavan Grider Community Center, Gloria Parks Community Center, JFK Recreation Center, Lincoln Field House, North Buffalo Community Center, Tosh Collins Community Center, Asarese-Matters Community Center, West Side Community Services, and Peter Machnica Center.

The following city parks are closed: Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park, Freedom Park (formerly Broderick Park), the Erie Basin Marina, Tifft Park, and Bird Island.

City Hall will be closed tomorrow for MLK Jr. Day.

Updates as of Sunday, 1:45 P.M.

Meteorologist John Rozbicki of the National Weather Service says the storm has consolidated into a "pretty impressive band" with snowfall rates of 3" to 4", even up to 5", an hour. He says this band currently is sitting just south of the airport.

Rozbicki says the snow band may move a little further south through the rest of Sunday, spend its evening in the south towns, before making its way north again. He says the snowfall rates may go down to 2" or 3" inches an hour Sunday evening. Snowfall rates will drop further on Monday, to about an inch or so, as it hits Buffalo again and then towards Niagara County.

Wind gusts are still high and expected to continue at the same rate through Sunday. Rozbicki says the gusts are at 40 to 45 miles per hour, but will gradually come down Sunday night and throughout Monday. Wind gusts should be under 30 miles per hour by Monday.

Rozbicki adds that many areas may have a snow total of one to two feet for the weekend, but the heaviest spots could have up to three feet.

Updates as of Sunday, 7:30 A.M.

As of 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Hamilton told WBFO that snow will settle over the City of Buffalo until about 11 a.m. Then, the snow is expected to roll over the south towns including Hamburg, East Aurora and Orchard Park, which could see another foot of snow.

However, that won't be it for the snow storm, as it will hang out in the south towns until about 10 or 11 p.m. tonight, when it will then make its way back to Buffalo overnight and into the early morning hours. Buffalo will likely see another four to eight inches.

On Monday, the snow is expected to head north of Buffalo where another four to six inches could fall.

Updates from Saturday

Governor Kathy Hochul, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced updates on the storm at noon on Saturday, including a travel ban in Erie County starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday. The Buffalo Bills game has also been rescheduled from Sunday to Monday afternoon. You can watch that update here:

“In general, expect very poor travel conditions from Saturday mid to late afternoon through Sunday nights,” Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Buffalo, said Friday evening. “I think by Monday morning we’ll be in better shape. There’s still going to be that snow around, but it will be weaker, and the winds will be much lighter. But that 36-hour period from late Saturday through Sunday night looks pretty rough.”

Winter storm warnings for Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties. Those warnings will end at 3 p.m. Sunday in Niagara and Orleans counties, although they’ll be in effect until 7 a.m. Monday in the rest of the region.

The city of Buffalo, some of the inner ring suburbs, and western Genesee County are all expected to see 18 inches to more than 2 feet of snow. Batavia, the Lake Erie shoreline, southern Erie County, and southern Niagara County could get up to a foot.

High wind warnings are also in effect in all eight Western New York counties until 4 a.m. Sunday. Wind gusts should reach stay at about 40 mph in Buffalo and Niagara Falls through the late morning Saturday, with gusts of 30-35 mph in the rest of the region. But by the afternoon, and evening, gusts are expected to reach 55 miles per hour across most of Western New York. Only inland Chautauqua County and Cattaraugus and Allegany counties will be spared the worst, with gusts of around 35-40 mph.

New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency across Western New York on Friday due to the potential for power outages, severely reduced visibility, and “potentially life-threatening conditions.” Hochul deployed 100 National Guardsmen and 69 additional Department of Transportation staff to the region ahead of the storm, according to a statement from her office. She also urged Western New Yorkers to prepare for power outages and to watch Sunday’s Bills game — still scheduled for 1 p.m. as of Saturday morning — from home instead of in person.

“We are expecting very serious whiteout, blizzard-like conditions,” Hochul said at a press briefing Friday. “The forecast of 20 inches may not sound like a lot to Western New Yorkers, but it could be falling at a heavy rate of 2-3 inches an hour. It’ll affect visibility.”

Erie County and the City of Buffalo both issued states of emergency that went into effect at 9 a.m. Saturday. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz asked residents to avoid unnecessary travel, but stopped short of issuing any travel bans.