Buffalo News
According to the National Weather Service, the town and village of Lancaster received 4 to 5 feet of snow since the weekend. "It seemed like we were never able to get out of the persistent snow band," said town disaster coordinator Ron Rozler.
Hamburg. Orchard Park. Springville. Lancaster.
In a typical Western New York winter, where lake-effect snow buries some places and ignores others, one of these communities is not like the other.
But after this latest round of winter weather, maybe Lancaster should be on the list.
According to the National Weather Service, the town and village of Lancaster received 4 to 5 feet of snow since the weekend, when the region’s first of two back-to-back lake-effect storms hit. At least one person in Lancaster died while shoveling snow, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said.
Ron Rozler, the town’s disaster coordinator, said the snow never seemed to let up.
When the snow band shifted north, Lancaster was still along the southern edge of the storm, Rozler said. And when it drifted south, Lancaster was still caught up in the northern edge of the storm.
“It seemed like we were never able to get out of the persistent snow band,” Rozler said.
But the Town of Lancaster was prepared for the storm, thanks to a coordinated effort among all departments.
On Saturday, before the heaviest of the snow began, the town and the villages of Lancaster and Depew jointly declared a state of emergency.
Leading up to the weekend storm, the town prepared two emergency shelters stocked with food and cots in case residents needed a place to stay. Departments held meetings to go over their plans and staff scheduling, Rozler said
The Friday before the storm, the Lancaster Police Department received one of the utility terrain vehicles it had purchased following the December 2022 blizzard, Chief Bill Gummo said. The vehicle has tracks that can get through the snow and help officers reach motorists who are stuck.
Real-time communication among the departments also helped the town weather the storm. For example, police officers who were out on the roads would let town plow drivers know which roads were becoming impassable and plow drivers would notify police if there were vehicles blocking them from clearing the roads, Gummo said.
“It was paramount that we were all kept up to speed as things were progressing,” Gummo said. “Everybody knew what moves people were making and just coordinated each independent move together so that it made for a much easier transition getting through the storm.”
The Town of Lancaster also kept in close communication with surrounding municipalities and Erie County. The information shared by town leaders helped inform Poloncarz’s decisions to implement driving bans.
“We try not to declare a travel ban at all because the more often you do it, or the longer you keep it in place, the more people just aren’t going to follow it,” Rozler said. “If we’re going to do it, it all comes down to safety, not just the safety of the individuals, but safety of our crews that are out there driving the streets too.”
The town also relied on its new notification app, Lancaster Connect, to send messages to residents throughout the storm.
One of the biggest challenges the town faced was delivery trucks showing up at the Amazon Fulfillment Center on Walden Avenue despite a driving ban.
Amazon drivers, according to the county executive, are not essential workers and cannot travel during a driving ban.
Police ticketed a few dozen drivers, Gummo said, and required that the trucks move to a vacant development across the street to get off the roads and wait out the storm.
“They don’t appear to have a system in place to tell their drivers not to come because of a driving ban,” Gummo said of Amazon, adding that town officials have previously had conversations with Amazon management about the issue.
On Monday night, I was taking my dog to her class at Premier Dog Sports center. I take drive Eastport Parkway from Walden to Pavement to avoid the light at Pavement and Walden. There must have been 20-30 tractor trailers lined up and down the parkway. i don't know if they use that for a rest stop during storms or maybe the LPD advised them to park there. I've never seen a single truck on there before. I never noticed any company names on the trucks. I was keeping my eys on the road
Georgia L Schlager
They put those sidewalks in on Walden Avenue. People are walking in the street because no one is clearing their sidewalks.
Georgia L Schlager
If you were driving on Monday night, the weather was not good at all. Blowing snow and most probably less-than optimum conditions, yikes!Originally Posted by gorja
Not only that, but heavy bands of lake effect snow were forecast, and as we know, accurately the forecasting of the time(s) and location(s) of lake effect events is always imprecise and dicey.
You sure did take a gamble just to go to a groomer, which suggests that there was no emergency. Most people that I know, would not risk pubic safety and well being of a cherished pet. In so doing, you also potentially could have tied-up first responder time and personnel undertaking true medical emergency efforts.
Maybe your example illustrates the reason for driving bans, eh?
Thank God both you and your furry friend are okay, but for Heaven's sake, what kind of thinking and judgment is that?
Maybe while you are keeping your eyes on the road, perhaps the dog should be keeping its eyes on you, eh?
Just joking, sort of.
Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 19th, 2024 at 04:32 PM.
LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"
Your post #2 raised my curiosity Gorja, so I did some quick checking.
It seems to me that your "gotcha moment" posts have a disturbing, thematic pattern to them.
Consider your September 24, 2023 post:
Now consider your October 19, 2023 post:
Consider also, your December 7, 2023 post:
These two comments are where your posts get suggestively interesting:Apparently, highway had a long day picking up leaves and brush with the snow
on the ground that they still had the dump's gates open at 7:20pm today.
It is one thing for a commenter to reveal and report the publicly conspicuous, like major village roads substantially unattended when the town's and another village's roads were well maintained, but it is quite another for the same observer to just happen upon rather mundane events, in somewhat isolated areas, numerous times, just my opinion.
To wit, wow, among other "coincidences," it seems as if the times of your trips to your dog trainer, groomer, or whatever, happen at very convenient times.
I'll bet some suspicious people may think someone, perhaps your dog service person, or even your dog, may be in the investigative service of something of an opposition/shadow Lancaster government, eh?
LOL.
Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 19th, 2024 at 05:35 PM.
LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"
Orchard Pary, Lancaster hit hardest by lake-effect
Buffalo News
Kudos to the Town of Lancaster for keeping our streets clear and safe!
A great coordinated effort by OEM, Highway, Parks, Police and Town officials.
Although winter arrived late in Western New York, it sure did pack a punch.
The double dose of heavy lake-effect snow over six days finally came to an end Thursday evening, with some areas in Erie County getting more snow on top of the 5 feet that had already accumulated.
The localized lake-effect snow bands have since disappeared. However, Friday remained frigid with wind chills in the single digits during the day and forecast to be below zero overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Light snow showers will impact the area through tonight, the weather service said, with less than an inch of accumulation possible.
As of Friday morning, these were the latest snow totals from the weather service for Wednesday through Thursday evening:
Orchard Park: 28.5 inches
Lancaster: 25 inches
Lackawanna: 24.3 inches
Hamburg: 20.8 inches
East Aurora: 20.5 inches
Eden: 20.3 inches
Derby: 20.3 inches
Alden: 18 inches
Buffalo: 16 inches
Hamburg: 11.7 inches
North Tonawanda: 10.1 inches
West Falls: 10 inches
Glenwood: 10 inches
West Seneca: 9.8 inches
Kenmore: 8.5 to 10.1 inches
Snyder: 8 inches
Buffalo Airport: 7.9 inches
East Amherst: 7 inches
Silver Creek: 7 inches
Meanwhile, CoCoRaHs, a volunteer network of weather observers, listed multiday accumulation from Sunday through Thursday for several regions across Erie County.
According to their totals, West Seneca received 75 to 80 inches, while South Buffalo received 68.5 inches. Here are the updated totals from the CoCoRaHs website.
West Seneca: 75 to 80.4 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 9-14 26-28 — 22-28 7-9.8 5.6-6
Lancaster: 54.8 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 8 19 — 8.3 12 7.5
Kenmore: 21.1 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 5 1.7 3.6 0.7 5.0 5.1
Hamburg: 30.5 to 53.1 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 5-6 9-24 0-0.3 6-12 7-8.8 2.5-3
East Aurora: 38.4 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 8 6.5 — 11.3 8.3 4.3
Cheektowaga: 24.5 to 34.6 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 4.3-6 2-6.5 2.4-2.5 2-3.8 6-9.3 6-8.3
Eden: 21.7 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 6.3 1.4 — 5.6 5.9 2.5
Boston: 25.6 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 6.5 1.3 — 8.5 6.3 3
Glenwood: 12.8 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 3.5 — 0 6.5 2.8 1.5
Elma: 60.3 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 10.5 21 — 8.8 13.5 6.5
Buffalo: 68.5 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 5 26 7 22.5 2 6
Springville: 6.6 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 1.2 0.3 0 4 0.3 0.8
Tonawanda: 11.4 to 15 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 5.5 0.61-5.5 1.5-3 0.4-0.5 2-2.5 2-3.5
Amherst: 30.4 inches
Date 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Snowfall (in inches) 7.2 2.4 2.6 1.4 8.4 8.4
The town highway must have had equipment problems this morning or maybe illness to workers.
At 4:45am, Central wasn't plowed in the town. the village had Central down to the pavement. The state had Walden and Broadway down to the pavement. The county had Bowen Rd down to the pavement. I had to run home at 6:30 to retrieve the snacks for my crew and Central still wasn't plowed at my end.
The town guys are always out early in the morning. Something must have happened
Georgia L Schlager
Thank you for your concern about worker illness.
The town workers broke their backends since last Saturday and kept the town-plowed roads in very good shape. As such, I think some well-deserved warmth, sleep, hot food, and opportunities to see their families can be factored into the town's overall safety quotient. Perhaps town workers actually earned some "revitalization" time during the more manageable conditions, provided last night by the lull in the horrible weather, eh?
Let's all hope whatever the village leadership may have had all week long (today my street was still highly snow-covered and slippery,) is in no way contagious, eh?
BTW, at the height of the storm, you wrote this...
Were the conditions last night worse than the Monday night-Tuesday morning time period?
Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 20th, 2024 at 08:09 PM.
LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"
This morning. the town on my street was back to their early morning plowing.
I think the town, village and state did a great job during the storm here in Lancaster including the round-about.
That's why I couldn't believe they had the travel ban last so long when the roads were ready every morning.
Georgia L Schlager
Hey Gorja,
You need to consider moving into the village, but on a street within the northside side limits or into the Lancaster Towers.
LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"
I did notice on one of the weekend mornings that the side streets west of Central Ave were down to the pavement in the village while the side streets east of Central Ave were not. I know I shouldn't assume but I did assume that they couldn't get all the streets at the same time and would be going east after finishing the west side
Georgia L Schlager
I can only speak to the east side of Central and your comment is accurate. My wife's observations would seem to support your full comment. On Sunday, my wife said that Laverack was substantially bare, as was Sawyer.
Our street seen its first significant bare pavement yesterday.
LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"
This morning I have to give KUDOS to the NYS Highway Dept. Town and village roads were ice rinks. Walden and Broadway were PERFECT
Georgia L Schlager
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