Deadly blizzard in New York, United States, and Ontario, Canada
The blizzard of 1977 hit Western New York, Central NY, Northern NY, and Southern Ontario from January 28 to February 1 of that year. Daily peak wind gusts ranging from were recorded by the National Weather Service in Buffalo, with snowfall as high as recorded in areas, and the high winds blew this into drifts of . There were 23 total storm-related deaths in Western New York, with five more in northern New York.
Certain pre-existing weather conditions exacerbated the blizzard's effects. November, December and January average temperatures were severely below normal. Lake Erie froze over by December 14, 1976; when this occurs, lake-effect snow does not occur because the wind cannot pick up moisture from the lake's surface, convert the moisture to snow, and then dump it when the winds reach shore.
Lake Erie was covered by a deep, powdery snow; January's unusually cold conditions limited the usual thawing and refreezing, so the snow on the frozen lake remained powdery. The drifted snow on roadways was difficult to clear because the strong wind packed the snow into a solid state. In addition to the roads becoming impassable, motorists had to deal with vehicles breaking down due to the combination of very cold temperatures, very high winds and blowing snow.
In the hardest-struck areas, snowmobiles became the only viable method of transportation. In Western New York and Southern Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, snow which was accumulated on frozen Lake Erie and snow on the ground at the start of the blizzard provided ample material for the high winds to blow into huge drifts. The combination of bitter cold, high winds, and blowing snow paralyzed areas affected by the storm. Lake Ontario rarely freezes over, which meant northern New York had to deal with considerable lake-effect snow. Coupled with the existing snow cover and wind, this had a similar effect.
Winter of 1976–1977.
Weather conditions during the months leading up to the blizzard contributed to the disastrous storm. A high-amplitude planetary wave pattern set up, which was very persistent from October 1976 through January 1977, and involved a ridge over western North America and a trough over eastern North America. In January 1977, this pattern persisted, with the pressure of the strong ridge over western North America being more than two standard deviations from the mean, while the strong trough centered over eastern North America was more than three standard deviations from the mean.
A strong blocking high developed over the Arctic Ocean during January, and this moved the polar vortex to southern Canada, south of its normal location. Strong northwest flow between the ridge and the trough resulted in a strong northwest flow in between, which ushered Arctic air into the central and eastern United States. The circulation helped cause record cold for the winter over many portions of the eastern United States, with the Ohio Valley averaging more than below normal. The severe winter was not limited to the northeastern United States; snow was observed in Miami, Florida, on January 20, and snow mixed with rain occurred in the Bahamas. In contrast, Alaska was exceptionally mild: Anchorage averaged above normal and was in fact warmer for the month than Atlanta half the distance from the equator, whilst it was the warmest January since at least 1937 for the whole state except the North Slope and the Aleutian Islands. The Pacific Northwest, located under the strong ridge, experienced unprecedented drought, with all 29 climatic divisions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho experiencing their driest October to February period on record.
In western New York.
Antecedent weather.
During June through September, the Buffalo National Weather Service (NWS) office recorded of rain, which is wetter than the 1961–1990 average of . In western New York the previously described pattern resulted in snowy and cold weather in the months leading up to the blizzard. Buffalo was a city of about 463,000 people with about 1.5 million in the metropolitan area, the second most populated city in New York State.
The first trace of snow of the winter at the Buffalo NWS weather station in Cheektowaga, New York, occurred on October 9, while the first accumulating snow was on October 21. Elsewhere in western New York, lake effect snow was observed in two periods, with up to on October 17–18 and up to on October 21–22 (O'Connell 1977). By the last day of October, Lake Erie was , the coldest it had been on that date.
November's air temperature in Buffalo was the coldest in nearly 100 years (since 1880), with an average temperature of . November's average temperature was about below normal. The first three weeks of November were quite dry in Buffalo – only of precipitation – and November as a whole was drier than normal. During late November, some heavy snow occurred, including on November 30 – up to in southern Erie County, Buffalo's county. The total November snowfall was recorded as in Buffalo.
December was cold and snowy, with an average temperature of . Like November, December's average temperature was also about below normal. December's snowfall was . Daily snow depth readings varied from , with a maximum measured snow depth of at 3:40 p.m. on December 2.
Lake Erie froze over by December 14; this was a record. An ice-covered Lake Erie usually puts an end to lake effect snowstorms, because the wind cannot pick up moisture from the lake's surface, convert the moisture to snow and then dump it when the winds reach shore.
The wintry weather continued in January, with the monthly average temperature being , the coldest on record (records began in 1870 in Buffalo). January's average temperature was below normal. It never rose to freezing in Buffalo that month, the first January that had occurred.
Prior to January 28, the day the blizzard started, it had snowed almost every day since just after Christmas. By January 27, Buffalo's snow depth was . There was continuous snow cover from November 29 until the day of the blizzard, and of snow had fallen that winter prior to the blizzard – in January alone – well above normal even for a city that averages about of snowfall per year. This resulted in a snow depth of on the day the blizzard started.
Low pressure crossed Lake Erie on January 27 and moved to James Bay; it became stalled east of James Bay. Then the storm moved back west over James Bay before finally moving east to the Canadian Maritimes.
Prelude.
Even before the blizzard hit, the Niagara Mohawk Power Company (which is now National Grid) had warned that snow was reaching the power lines in some areas of western New York. Also, on Thursday, January 27, severe natural gas shortages forced industries and schools to either curtail activities or to close. The governors of Minnesota, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had also declared energy emergencies.
Early in the week of the blizzard, James Lindner, Commissioner of Street Sanitation for the City of Buffalo, estimated approximately 20% of cars in the city of Buffalo were illegally parked or abandoned, limiting the ability of snowplows to clear side streets and making many of them impassable. A concentrated effort to plow (and tow as necessary) – called the "Snow Blitz" by the press – managed to make significant progress on Tuesday, January 25, and Wednesday, January 26, with the help of 960 tickets and 140 tows. Even so, one source notes the side streets in Buffalo were "practically impassable" on Wednesday, January 26.
On Wednesday evening, snow squalls and high winds hit Wyoming, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Erie counties in western New York. This snowstorm closed the Buffalo Skyway, Fuhrmann Boulevard – a major route to the suburbs south of the city – and many other roads, and forced snow removal crews to focus on the major and secondary roads Wednesday night and Thursday. Many motorists were stranded on Fuhrmann Boulevard and were rescued by police and firefighters overnight Wednesday. The clearing of snow from this storm was made difficult by winds, which in one case on Thursday, January 27, transformed a clear road to one with drifts in less than an hour. The Greater Buffalo International Airport closed Thursday, January 27.
By late January, snow removal was hampered; 33 of the city's 79 snow plows were in for repairs. On the afternoon of Thursday, January 27, the National Guard had been called to the region with equipment to help clear the streets of snow.
Onset.
Friday morning.
On Thursday, January 27, an Arctic front had swept southward through the northern Great Plains to the Midwest. Between 6:00 and 7:00 am on Friday, January 28, a wall of snow accompanied the cold front's passage through Indianapolis, Indiana, along with a temperature drop of almost . Between 7:00 and 8:00 am, Columbus, Ohio, reported similar situations. Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, as well as Erie, Pennsylvania, were also hit strongly by the cold front. The NWS office in Erie warned "travel might be disastrous"; and there were more than 500 accidents in the area that morning.
From midnight to 11:00 am, the temperature at the Buffalo airport rose from . Snow began around 5:00 am, with about of new snow prior to the beginning of the blizzard. At 4:00 am, the Buffalo NWS office indicated "very strong winds will once again produce near blizzard conditions beginning late this afternoon and continuing tonight". At 11:00 am, a blizzard warning was issued, which was the first time the Buffalo NWS office had done this.
That morning observers on the 16th floor of the M&amp;T Bank Building in Buffalo watched as a gray wall covered the city; it appeared white as it came closer. A blast of wind hit the building that caused the floor to move and the glass window to creak, and then the wall of white enveloped the building. It was 11:10 am.
On the previous day, the governor of New York had decided to use the National Guard and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to help clean up snow in Buffalo, not knowing a blizzard would hit. Some NYSDOT equipment had arrived in Buffalo while the National Guard was not yet mobilized, but a meeting was being held at the Buffalo city garage that morning to coordinate the efforts. Before the meeting finished, Buffalo city plows started to return to the garage due to a lack of visibility; they reported they were unable to see even their own plow blades. By 11:30 am, most workers in the city of Buffalo had been released early, but few made it home. At 11:35 am, lightning was seen in the darkening sky.
The white wall of snow reached the airport around 11:30 am. associated with the cold front. Winds increased to , gusting to , with visibility dropping from to 0 where it stayed until 12:50 am the next day.
Three airplanes on the tarmac at the Greater Buffalo International Airport in Cheektowaga were waiting to take off when the blizzard hit. One of them idled for five minutes due to the blizzard hitting; this resulted in the nose wheel freezing and preventing it from turning around. It took several hours to bring the three airplanes back to the terminal since they had to do this via radio communication. The limited visibility prevented the pilots from seeing the men on the ground who would normally guide the airplane.
Friday afternoon.
During the four hours after the blizzard hit, the temperature at the Buffalo airport (where the Buffalo office of the NWS is) fell from .
Snow built up rapidly, with bumper-high snow being reported by 1:00 pm and high drifts by nightfall in the City of Buffalo. The depth of snow quickly caused many roads to become impassable (within 30 minutes in the part of Buffalo nearest Lake Erie), and the blowing snow caused extremely low visibilities, making travel nearly impossible.
In addition to the roads becoming impassable, motorists also had to deal with vehicles breaking down due to the combination of very cold temperatures, very high winds, and blowing snow. For example, a maintenance pickup truck at the Buffalo airport had snow blasted into the engine compartment that then melted, saturated the spark plugs, and stalled the engine. A report from Welland, Ontario, (see section below for a description of the blizzard in Canada) indicated many cars overheated when snow got under the radiator, melted, and then refroze,