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In America, people are fighting against snow masses.
Winter hits New York hard. About two meters of snow fell in the town of Orchard Park, south of Buffalo, on Sunday morning (local time), according to the National Weather Service. At times, more than 15 centimeters of snow fell in some places per hour, the New York Times reported.
According to initial estimates, a new record for heaviest snowfall in less than 24 hours may be broken. “Nothing like this has ever happened,” Kathy Hochul said at a press conference convened Saturday afternoon (local time).
New York’s governor had already declared a state of emergency in some regions on Thursday. On Saturday, Hochul applied to US President Joe Biden for federal aid to provide additional support to affected communities.
Driving bans and flight cancellations
According to CNN, the storm led to road closures, driving restrictions and dozens of flight cancellations at Buffalo International Airport. The NFL moved a game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns to Detroit on short notice.
Two people have died of heart problems while clearing snow in Erie County, County Commissioner Mark Polancarz wrote on Twitter. In addition to New York, officials and meteorologists have warned of particularly dangerous storms in the US states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. A driver driving a snow removal vehicle was involved in a crash Friday in Indiana, west of New York.
The cause is the lake effect
One reason for the onset of winter is the “lake effect”. A group of five contiguous freshwater lakes in the northern United States—the Great Lakes—have very cold air blowing across them, and their waters are significantly warmer. Moisture rises, is carried by the wind, and then snows in narrow bands of precipitation on the land southeast of the lakes.
According to the forecast, the snow should weaken early in the week. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, the American harvest festival. Along with Christmas, the holiday is one of the most important family celebrations in the United States — and the amount of travel during this time is high. (SDA)
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