State of emergency in New York: 15 centimeters of snow per hour – the state is sinking in the snow
Created: 2022-11-20 21:23
By: Anna Lorenz
Snow has been falling almost continuously in the northern part of the US state of New York for two days.
Governor Kathy Hochul has since declared a state of emergency.
New York - According to the national weather service, around two meters of snow fell south of Buffalo by the morning of Sunday (November 20), up to 15 centimeters
per hour in the state of New York, according to the
New York Times .
The snowstorm led to road closures, driving bans and dozens of flight cancellations at Buffalo International Airport, according to CNN.
New York: State of emergency due to extreme snowfall - "Lake Effect" as cause
"Something like this has never happened before," Kathy Hochul said at a press conference convened on Saturday afternoon (local time).
The governor of New York had already declared a state of emergency in some regions on Thursday (November 17).
On Saturday, Hochul applied to US President Joe Biden for federal aid to provide additional support to the affected communities.
Heavy snowfalls wreak havoc in parts of New York State.
© picture alliance/dpa/AP |
Carolyn Thompson
The onset of winter is also expected in Germany - in the USA the "Lake Effect" is probably responsible for the heavy snowfall.
Extremely cold air sweeps over the Great Lakes in the north of the USA, whose water is considerably warmer.
Moisture rises, is swept up in the airflow, and then snows in narrow bands of precipitation over land on the southeast side of the lakes.
Snowfall in New York: Several deaths already – weather improvement predicted for Thanksgiving
District manager Mark Poloncarz reported via the social media platform Twitter that two people died of heart problems while clearing snow in Erie Countie.
In addition to New York, authorities and weather experts had also warned of the particularly dangerous storm in the US states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In Indiana, west of New York, the driver of a snow clearing vehicle had a fatal accident on Friday (November 18).
According to the forecast, the snowfall should weaken at the beginning of the week.
Next Thursday (November 24th) Thanksgiving, the American harvest festival, will be celebrated in the USA.
Along with Christmas, the holiday is one of the most important family celebrations in the USA - the volume of travel is particularly high at this time.