Live updates: Tracking the lake effect snow storm in Western New York

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A state of emergency is in effect for the region, allowing New York State to provide snow removal and safety support to counties and municipalities responding to the lake effect storm.

Latest forecast information is available here.

Monday 4:30 p.m. Update: Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced the travel ban in the southern portion of the city has been lifted. According to Brown, 95% of streets have had a pass-through and the remaining 5% will have a pass-through tonight. A travel advisory will still be in place.

The travel advisory that was in place in East, West and North Buffalo has been lifted as of noon Monday.

Monday 2 p.m. Update: Poloncarz announced a third death was confirmed by the sheriff's office associated with the snowstorm in Erie County. He said it was a male who suffered a cardiac event while shoveling and offered his condolences to the family.

Monday 12:30 p.m. Update: The travel ban in Lackawanna was lifted at noon Monday. The only travel ban that remains is in South Buffalo, including Kaisertown and Lovejoy.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz issued the following statement on snow removal in Hamburg:

"We are aware of a few neighborhoods in Hamburg that have not yet been opened even though Hamburg lifted its driving ban as of 6 AM. Due to the depth of the snow in Hamburg it cannot be plowed. It must be removed by scooping it with high-lifts and dumping it into large construction trucks, which then cart it off to our dump site at SUNY Erie South. The county is continuing to assist Hamburg in its efforts to recover from this storm. We currently have 27 high-lifts and many trucks in Hamburg helping to dig out the remaining portions of the town. Thank you for your patience during this record-breaking snowfall."

Monday 9 a.m. Update: Any Erie County resident with dialysis appointments or other critical medical needs who is unable to leave their home or driveway because of snow should call (716) 651-2090. The county will dispatch transportation from the Emergency Operations Center in Cheektowaga.

The NFTA announced it will restore select bus service outside of areas impacted by the travel bans. NFTA-Metro Rail is returning to normal operations and Paratransit service will continue to operate but still ask riders to reschedule if possible.

Monday 6 a.m. Update: Travel bans in Orchard Park, Hamburg, Blasdell and Evans have been replaced with travel advisories.

The City of Lackawanna and the City of Buffalo south of William Street still have a driving ban.

Garbage and recycling pick up in Buffalo is suspended today and will resume tomorrow.

Sunday 1 p.m. Update: Several large school districts in Erie County, including Buffalo Public Schools, are closed Monday.

Sunday 6:00 a.m. Update: The 219 and 400 remain closed, although officials will meet at 7 a.m. to discuss next steps. The Thruway is completely open with the exception of exits 56 and 57. Drivers trying to exit at these points will be ticketed.

Travel bans remain in effect in South Buffalo, Evans, Hamburg and Orchard Park. A travel advisory remains in place for the rest of Erie County.

Stranded vehicles in the Hamburg/Blasdell/Orchard Park area may have been towed to the parking lot of the former Sears location at the McKinley Mall. You can check the status of your vehicle at erie.gov/towedvehicles.

County leaders are in continuing conversations with school officials about the status of schools tomorrow, said Erie County Emergency Services Commissioner Dan Neaverth, Jr.

Erie County Department of Public Workers crews were able to reach the Ten Lives Club Saturday in Blasdell to feed and care for all animals inside.

Saturday 8:00 p.m. Update: The New York State Thruway is open to all traffic once again, including commercial vehicles. Officials say conditions throughout the region remain dangerous, so they are still encouraging everyone to stay home to allow crews to continue their work to clear roads.

While the Thruway has re-opened, some exits remain closed.

Saturday 3:30 p.m. Update: New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz held a joint press conference. Hochul said taking action early and bringing resources in early made a difference in saving lives. According to Hochul there were about 88 crashes, 280 people were rescued and about 392 tickets were issued.

The NYS Thruway will reopen to commercial traffic only. Hochul called it a "soft" opening and said some exits remain closed. She also announced the Skyway will be reopening soon, officials just want to get the roads a little clearer.

Hochul said she will sign a request for a federal emergency disaster declaration to help with reimbursements for paying for things that are storm-related.

In addition, the state has doubled the number of National Guard members in Erie County. Originally around 70 members were here, but now there are 150. They will be checking on residents and assisting with snow removal.

Poloncarz said there is still a state of emergency in Erie County. Driving bans remain in place in South Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, Alden, West Seneca, Elma, Marilla, Hamburg, Orchard Park, Aurora, Wales, Evans, Eden and Boston

He said it is likely a number of the bans will be lifted later this evening but Hamburg and Orchard Park will probably be last since they were the hardest hit.

A Wegmans spokesperson said although it originally planned to reopen the McKinley Wegmans at 4 p.m. Saturday, it will remain closed as crews continue to remove snow. It will now reopen at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Saturday 1:30 p.m. Update: Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced the travel ban will transition to a travel advisory at 2 p.m. Saturday for East, West and North Buffalo. The travel ban remains in place in South Buffalo. In the areas where the travel ban is being lifted, the mayor said progress has been made in clearing main and secondary roads and crews will shift to side streets. In South Buffalo, the city has about 70 pieces of equipment on hand to haul snow out because there is too much snow to plow.

Saturday 12:30 p.m. Update: A travel advisory has been issued for the City of Niagara Falls. Officials say there should be no unnecessary travel at this time and ask residents to follow overnight parking regulations.

Saturday noon Update: As part of the City of Buffalo 2022-2023 snow plan there is a GPS system to track where its DPW plows are and where they have been. On Saturday morning a city spokesperson announced Citizens Insight Mapping System is having issues in reporting completed streets and the city is working to correct it. In addition, the spokesperson said state, county and private contractor plows are assisting in plowing city streets and the GPS system does not show their activity. "Residents should continue to call the 311 Call and Resolution Center to report areas of concern. The full number for 311 is 716-851-4890."

Saturday 9 a.m. Update: A trained spotter has measured 77 inches of snow in Orchard Park.

The City of Buffalo has opened warming shelters in addition to those opened Friday by Erie County. You can find a full list of warming shelters here.

Saturday 8 a.m. Update: A travel advisory that had been in place for Wyoming County has been lifted as of 7:45 a.m.

The NFTA is suspending bus service until further notice, affecting all routes. The Metro will continue to operate on a limited basis, and paratransit is not suspended. However, the NFTA is asking paratransit riders to reschedule if possible.

Saturday 6 a.m. Update: The Buffalo metro area saw significant snowfall overnight. A travel ban is in place for the entire City of Buffalo.

Friday 9:00 p.m. Update: Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz stressed that employers located within the travel ban area (south of Downtown Buffalo, William Street) cannot force employees to come to work, unless they are deemed an essential worker.

Additionally, no other deaths have been reported since two males died earlier Friday afternoon from cardiac arrests during the storm.

Friday 4:30 p.m. Update: As of 3 p.m. Friday Hamburg had received 37 inches of snow. Below you can see the difference between what it looked like at 8 a.m. compared to 4:30 p.m.

Friday 3:30 p.m. Update: Erie County officials announced a state of emergency has been declared in Erie County, City of Buffalo, City of Lackawanna, Town of Amherst, Town of Cheektowaga, Town of Clarence, Town of Evans, Town of Hamburg, Town of Orchard Park, Town of Tonawanda, Village of Angola, Village of Blasdell, Village of Depew, Village of Hamburg, Village of Lancaster and Village of Orchard Park.

The county announced it has contracted several agencies to help with snow removal and assisting vehicles that are stuck. Several additional pieces of equipment have also been brought in to assist.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also announced two deaths have been reported that are associated with the storm. Two males suffered cardiac events associated with shoveling and snow blowing. Poloncarz also said there was a partial building collapse in the Town of Hamburg and other issues arising from the heavy wet snow.

AAA says anyone who is stranded in a vehicle should call 911 because in many cases, police are turning its trucks away for safety reasons to avoid more gridlock.

A Wegmans spokesperson announced its location on McKinley Parkway closed at 3 p.m. Friday and will remain closed until 4 p.m. Saturday due to the snow. A release says the following, "this will allow our maintenance team to focus on snow removal. We look forward to welcoming our employees and customers back to the store tomorrow."

Friday 11:30 a.m. Update: The NFTA announced it will resume bus service in areas that are outside of the travel ban in Erie County at noon Friday.

Friday 9 a.m. Update: The University at Buffalo has announced Saturday's football game between the University at Buffalo and the University of Akron is being postponed. The women's basketball game against Princeton, also scheduled for Saturday, is canceled and will not be rescheduled.

Friday 8 a.m. Update: As of Friday morning, there are more than 400 organizations, schools and businesses closed across Western New York. Parts of southern Erie County are without power. In an announcement at 6 a.m. and a tweet by County Executive Mark Poloncarz at 8 a.m., Erie County lifted travel bans for parts of the county based on clear roads. Find the latest updates on travel bans and advisories in the information below, updated throughout the day.

Travel Bans and Advisories

Travel bans have been were reduced to advisories. Some advisories have been lifted.

Road Closures

• I-90 — reopened on Saturday evening
• Route 219 — has since reopened
• Route 400 — has since reopened
• Route 5 — has since reopened

Latest Snow Total Graphic

Saturday 4 p.m.:

Resource Links

• Weather alerts
• Closings
• Storm forecast
• Prep your car
• Forecast links
• City of Buffalo live snow plow tracker