Lake effect storm drops snow across Western New York and Midwest

Kimberly Stolar was glad to be off the road in Erie, Pennsylvania on Saturday. Not that she had much choice: She couldn’t open her front door, no matter how hard she pushed against the estimated 50 inches of snow that had blown over it. She knew her SUV was parked somewhere in her driveway, but couldn’t say exactly where.

“I’m just trying today to ignore the fact that I can’t leave my house and just be grateful for what I have in my house,” said Ms. Stolar, 33, an Erie native who experienced this storm said the worst thing she could remember.

More than two feet of snow blanketed western New York and Pennsylvania on Saturday, more than a meter in some parts, as a lake-effect snowstorm disrupted post-Thanksgiving travel and left dozens of vehicles stranded on highways. The storm threatened to bring up to two meters of snow in some areas by Tuesday morning.

More than five million residents in eight states – Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia – were under winter weather warnings as of 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Snow warnings due to lake effects were in place for more than three million residents in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

The weather service said Saturday’s snowfall was heaviest along Interstate 90, which skirts Lake Erie from Buffalo through Pennsylvania to Cleveland. About 30 inches or more of snow fell in Erie and parts of northern Michigan, eastern Ohio and western New York, the agency said. National Guard troops were deployed to New York and Pennsylvania.