BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's the one-two punch of snow that will forever be remembered as "Snowvember."
A decade ago this week, back-to-back lake effect snow events dumped several feet of snow in communities east and south of Buffalo.
According to the National Weather Service, during the Snowvember storm:
- There were 13 fatalities
- Thousands of motorists were stranded on the thruway and local roadways
- There were hundreds of roof collapses and structural failures
"I remember looking down Transit Road at this wall of storm," said Bren Price.
"My kids loved it, they were off of school," said Jaina Perry. "We all just hung out and went out in the snow."
"It was definitely the biggest challenge we've ever had," said David Gunner, Superintendent of Highways for the Town of Aurora, which accumulated more than seven feet of snow during the storm.
Gunner told me that his crews worked around the clock to keep roads open and passable for emergency vehicles. He said the first lake effect band dropped around three feet of snow, which his team was able to manage, but that was only the beginning.
"We got through that three foot and we were just cleaning it up, and we were feeling good. Then all of a sudden the second band came in and that was for us the big one," said Gunner, who added that the second band of snow dropped an additional four feet.
Once the snow stopped, the massive cleanup effort began with Town of Aurora crews moving mountains of snow to Knox Farm State Park.
Gunner said his biggest takeaway from Snowvember was the importance of updated equipment including snowplows.
"Literally by the end of it, half of the fleet was broke," said Gunner. "It's an incredible wear and tear on the equipment since then we've upgraded to where we try and keep new equipment, more equipment."