THUNDERSNOW IN BUFFALO---ONE YEAR AGO by beanerywriters

One year ago---October 12, 2006---Buffalo, New York, was hit with a freak snowstorm.
This is a long entry, but the topic is huge---personal reports from Buffalo, New York.
Monte and I stopped at his sister’s home in northern New York where we met his brother and sister for lunch. It was October 12. That evening residents of our next planned stop, a suburb of Buffalo, experienced a unique storm news reports called a “thundersnow."
According to Wikipedia: Thundersnow is a particularly rare meteorological phenomenon that includes the typical behavior of a thunderstorm, but with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain.
A normal thunderstorm on the leading edge of a cold front or warm front that either forms in a winter environment or one which runs into cool air and maintains the precipitation as snow. There are usually three forms of thundersnow:
· A heavy synoptic snowstorm that catches a warm draft of air or sustains strong vertical mixing which allows for favorable conditions for lightning and thunder to occur.
· A lake effect or ocean effect thunderstorm which is produced by cold air passing over relatively warm water, this effect commonly produces snow squalls over the Great Lakes.
One unique aspect of thundersnow is that the snowfall acts as an acoustic suppressor of the thunder. The thunder from a typical thunderstorm can be heard many miles away, while the thunder from thundersnow can usually only be heard within a two to three kilometer radius from the lightning.
Thundersnow, while rare anywhere, is more common with lake effect snow in the Great Lakes area of the United States and Canada, the midwestern U.S., the Great Salt Lake, and has also been reported around the Sea of Japan and even around Mount Everest during expeditions.
I’d wondered why everyone described a thunderstorm that occurred with “eerie silence."
“This is a once in a lifetime storm," said sister Lee. “The weather people had no clue, never said anything like this could happen."
At 2:00 am sis Cyn went to her apartment complex parking lot in the midst of the storm to help her daughter move her snowbound car from the middle of the lot.
“It was awesome in a sense," she said. “The eeriest thing, the eeriest feeling, was the dead silence Nothing was moving. Every ten seconds you could hear branches snapping. And the l lightening, we had lightening all through the snow, the lightening, the trees snapping, the silence, was weird."
She added that someone rewrote the song “Another One Bites the Dust," changing the words to “Another Branch Hit My Truck." The extremely heavy snow settling on leaf-filled trees broke so many trees it changed the face of the storm-hit communities.
Ed and Pat stood on their porch for 30-45 minutes experiencing the quiet calm and fireworks-like display of the lightening.
“Trees were cracking and coming down," Ed said. “We saw lightening in colors. Some people said they saw green, orange lightening. The (precipitation) went from rain to hail, snowballs, then snow. Once the snow came down that was it."
“It was purple, sometimes pink," Lee said. “At first I thought it was from broken power lines."
The area lost electricity around 11 pm. Ed had candles and extra flashlight batteries, but Cyn and Lee were more unprepared. Neither had flashlights, although Cyn had candles and matches. Their cordless phones operate on electricity, and their cell phone batteries were near death.
Ed and Pat quickly accessed a small generator, used to pump water out of their basement.
The storm’s aftermath left significant tree damage and branches everywhere, they all said. Cyn said being outside was like walking through a war zone---the damage doesn’t even compare to that of the ice storm she endured in Jan. 1998 when living in Maine.
“It’s like someone just dropped a bomb."
Ed describes it as a disaster area. “Do you know what new Orleans looks like?" he asked.
A tree fell on Cyn’s third floor patio. She feared her porch would break off and create a hole in the apartment beneath her where a man is on oxygen.
“I loved the tree with its helicopters," she said. “I have the tree’s daughter (because I said it’s a daughter) which I planted it in a pot on my stove. I told Lee she could have it."
The tree in Lee’s front yard, it’s autumnal glory shining for Monte and I to see on our planned visit, became just a twig sticking up in her front yard, Lee said.
When Cyn stopped at the store where she works part time, a customer mentioned a utility worker from Florida told him the storm damage was a lot like that of Florida hurricanes, and he noted things are a lot worse than the government and everyone is telling people.
Lee summarized the storm’s aftermath.
“People lost so much. Food, flooding, loss of work…"
Cyn told of were six reported deaths. “Three were due to carbon monoxide poisoning, one to hypothermia, and two were traffic accidents."
The accidents killed a state trooper and a teenager who was out walking. The youth was a former neighbor of Lee’s.
A news report on the massive power outage was amusing.
“Water should be boiled," the announcer then said. Lee’s response? “How do you boil water when you have an electric stove and no electric?"
There was a travel ban. A volunteer emergency management person was upset because people were out and not staying home.
“Food is a problem," Lee explained. “Tey have to shop every day just for staples. They can’t be locked in."
Ed, Cyn and Lee had to pitch all refrigerated and frozen food except butter, mustard and ketchup.
“I opened my freezer and gagged, she said.
One side effects is that meals on wheels can’t be delivered.
Lee told of a six year old boy on a breathing machine confined to his bed. He can only be off it a few hours or he dies, Trapped indoors, the mother couldn’t get help. She called the fired department, and a member trudged through the snow with a generator. She took pix of them bringing a generator up driveway.
A ten-story senior-citizen complex in Lancaster can’t get its residents to a heated room. The stairways are too narrow for their beds and wheelchairs.
“Everybody’s basement flooded," said Cyn, noting items in her storage area are on high shelves. “Because we didn’t have electric the sump pumps weren’t running and killed the boilers in the apartment basements. Later, as water was pumped out, it ran back in."
Ed’s basement flooded immediately and he’s trying to conserve generator use.
“It’s probably as old as us," he said. “I’m trying to keep the basement pumped down every couple hours."
Several inches of water ruined his basement rug and only later will he discover how much more damage is occurring. He heard about one person having eight feet of water, and people are getting raw sewage in their basements now.
Neither Lee nor Cyn has worked since last Thursday, wreaking havoc on their budgets.
With their workplaces closed they’ve had difficulty getting paychecks so they can eat.
She noted that peanut butter sandwiches were getting old.
“My office was open for two hours one day," Cyn said about finally getting her check.
Lee’s work office remains closed. “I have to wait a bit to get food, crackers and cereal," she said.
Cleanliness became a problem with the electrical outage and water restrictions. “I smelled rank," Cyn said. “I’ve worn the same pair of pants on for four days now."
Electric comes on sporadically. Cyn was able to shower and get a good meal at the home of her son and his girl friend. “I said ‘Do you know how much I appreciate having a hot shower, a warm bed and breakfast?’ They said “That’s why you had children!"
Monday she did laundry at Lee’s.
By Monday people were hungry, dirty, and cold. Tuesday brought heavy rains.
“I’m so glad we had the sun before the electric came on," Lee said. “It’s so gloomy today,"
She said the National Guard does traffic control, cleanup, and whatever is needed.
“The guys from Florida rewiring say we need this. The cleanup is horrendous, enormous. I think it will take weeks with all the towns: Lancaster, West Seneca, Lewiston, Grand Island, Williamsville. There are miles of trees to be removed before the electric is done. It isn’t surprising electricity goes on and off. Almost all the signal lights are out---the logistics of traffic. A corner light was out when I came home from Kir’s (her daughter’s) in daytime. There was a couple miles of cars lined up. It became a four way stop, I can’t imagine streets with turn arrows."
Lee doesn’t know how the poor guys are there doing the work. “I would have run out with doughnuts and coffee if I could have. I wanted to go on and hug them."
People actually did line streets and applaud the caravans of work trucks that rolled down the street. “They are working very hard," Cyn said. “I’ll give them that, they’ve done a tremendous effort in the last days." Everything is day by day, Lee added.
There have been positive effects. Cyn’s impressed at how nice neighbors could be. The storm showed a side of the community that normally doesn’t exist. A neighbor of Cyn’s shoveled her daughter’s car out and cleared a parking space for her.
“Friday we didn’t get plowed out until the afternoon," she said. “It amazed me how everyone was helping everyone. Someone had a grill out cooking up all their meat and there was a party with lawn chairs."
All in all, we’re surviving, everyone said. Cyn and Lee made it to the store Saturday and purchased regular phones and flashlights.
“We’re survivors," everyone agreed.
Especially Cyn, who said “I lived in the frozen tundra (Downeast Maine) for fourteen years."
Wednesday update from Lee: Yesterday it was pouring rain with winds up to 45 miles. More branches broke off her tree and others. There are thirteen reported deaths from carbon monoxide and traffic incidents.
FEMA’s visit to Amherst is turning out to be political. Apparently their reps didn’t visit Buffalo because they didn’t realize it was in Erie County. Yet Buffalo was declared to be in a state of emergency.
Her apartment complex hasn’t been worked on yet. The second street has much more damage than the street she lives on.
Hotel rooms are all filled. Looting is occurring everywhere. Chain saw accidents are frequent. Emergency rooms are packed---ECMC is open for people to come and sit for warmth. A drugstore manager wouldn’t hand a resident a prescription for his wife who had just had surgery. People’s patience is giving out and their getting testy.
“I admire the workers," she said of the people who are out in the weather.
Lee has to go to work today. The driving ban is off.
She appreciates “just the creature comforts, if you have those…"