Americans across the country braced for another night of icy temperatures as the mercury continued to drop Wednesday, with residents in upstate New York still marooned at home, on highways and at work one day after a ferocious storm dumped piles of snow on the area.
Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard Tuesday as more than 4 feet fell in parts of the city. Authorities said snow totals by Wednesday afternoon could top 6 feet in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another storm expected Thursday that could bring another 2 or 3 feet.
The storm came in so fast and furious over Lake Erie it trapped more than 100 vehicles along a 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway, which remained closed Wednesday. Residents who can handle 6 inches of snow as if it were a light dusting were forced to improvise.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a State of Emergency for counties most affected by the weather. The storm was blamed for up to seven deaths in western New York, at least four of them from heart attacks. Erie County officials said a man was discovered in his car, which was in a ditch and buried in snow 24 miles east of Buffalo. It was unclear how he died.
"This is an historic event. When all is said and done, this snowstorm will break all sorts of records, and that's saying something in Buffalo," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a visit to the city.
Cuomo said on Twitter that the state activated 526 plows, 74 large loaders, 1,247 operators, 17 large snow blowers, and four truck-mounted snow blowers. He also said Amtrak service west of Albany was suspended through Wednesday afternoon.
From Hawaii to the Carolinas, Americans shivered as racing winds and icy roads caused accidents, school closings and delays in municipal operations from the Midwest to the South even where snowfall was low or mercifully absent.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the online site Weather Underground, told The Associated Press that the low temperatures are January-like instead of what's normal for November. Masters said temperatures were 15 to 35 degrees below average over much of the country due to the presence of arctic air.
In New York, the snowstorm forced motorists in 150 vehicles, including a women's basketball team, to ride out the onslaught in their vehicles. They waited for hours to be freed, with some waiting more than a day. Cuomo deployed 150 members of the National Guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles.
Members of the Niagara University women's basketball team were napping on and off 17 hours into their wait on Tuesday night. Some got so thirsty they drank melted snow, said Coach Kendra Faustin, who was traveling with her 1-year-old.
"It seemed like a nightmare. It just didn't feel like it was going to end," Bryce Foreback, 23, of Shicora, Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press by cellphone 20 hours into his wait for help. "I haven't slept in like 30 hours and I'm just waiting to get out of here."
Troopers used all-terrain vehicles to deliver supplies, state police Capt. Ed Kennedy said. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said about 140 motorists were stranded. Many chose to stay with their cars, while others left them, he said.
The lake-effect snow created a stark divide: In downtown Buffalo and north of the city, there was a mere dusting of precipitation, while in the south parts, snow was everywhere. The snow band that brought the snow was very much evident throughout the day as gray clouds persistently hovered over the southern part of the city. The band was so apparent that the wall of snow could be seen from a mile away.
With the additional 2 to 3 feet possible by Thursday, the one-week totals for the Buffalo area will approach the average snowfall for a year: 93.6 inches, or close to 8 feet. Cuomo warned that a weekend warm-up could lead to significant flooding when the thick blanket of snow melts. Forecasters say rain is possible this weekend.
The highest snowfall total for the Buffalo area this time was 65 inches, recorded in Cheektowaga. National Weather Service meteorologist David Church said that forecasters haven't determined yet how this storm ranks, but that 60 to 70 inches in 24 hours is probably in the top 5 for the region.
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall on record in the Lower 48 states is 75.8 inches, which fell at Silver Lake, Colorado, in 1921, according to the government.
The governor said it would take four or five days to clean up.
The wintry blast that included bitter cold in spots created havoc across a wide swath of the country. In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Lake-effect storms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 18 inches of snow and canceled several flights at the Grand Rapids airport.
Schools closed in the North Carolina mountains amid blustery winds and ice-coated roads. In Indiana, three firefighters were hurt when a semitrailer hit a fire truck on a snowy highway.
In Atlanta, tourists Morten and Annette Larsen from Copenhagen were caught off-guard by the 30-degree weather as they took photos of a monument to the 1996 summer Olympics at Centennial Olympic Park.
"It's as cold here as it is in Denmark right now. We didn't expect that," Larsen said, waving a hand over his denim jacket, buttoned tightly over a hooded sweatshirt.
The Weather Channel reported that relief would not reach parts of America until the weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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