Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo has issued a travel advisory on Monday as snow continues to hammer the Western New York region.
"It's important to remember it's an advisory, and really we're asking people to use common sense," said Buffalo's Commissioner of Public Works, Mike Finn on Monday. "If your trip can be put off until later in the week, that would be a good idea for today. That certainly helps to keep cars off the road so our crews can move faster."
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for all of Western New York, with the Southern Tier region - Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Alleghany and Southern Erie Counties - seeing their warning remain in effect until 10 p.m. EST. Meanwhile, the rest of Western New York - Northern Erie, Wyoming, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans Counties - remains under a Winter Storm Warning through 7 p.m. EST on Monday.
According to the National Weather Service, this storm is expected to bring heavy snow to the region. Total snow accumulations could range between 12 and 20 inches, with winds gusting as high as 40-45 miles per hour that will produce some blowing and drifting snow.
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The average snow fall rate of this storm has primarily seen anywhere from 1-2 inches of snow per-hour in most regions, however, some areas - including the Buffalo Niagara International Airport - saw snow fall rates of four-plus inches of snow per-hour.
As for the City of Buffalo, snow fall rates have been similar to what it saw a week-and-a-half ago when a burst of lake effect snow hammered the Downtown area. Commissioner Finn says his crews were out since late Sunday night trying to fight the flakes and keep roadways across the city clear of snow.
"There's 28 trucks, pieces of equipment out right now, and will be working on balancing that throughout the day," Finn said.
"One of the big challenges any snow fighting operation has is to make sure that you have crews to work continuously throughout the event. You can't have everybody working at the very beginning. Then they're maxed out from their 16-hour shift, and then there's no one left. We'll be continuing to balance crews throughout the duration of the storm."
Despite Monday being Martin Luther King Day, Finn said that everyone has been called in to work and plow out snow from the city's streets. Finn is fortunate, though, that this storm did take place on a national holiday that usually does not see people on the roads for work, or kids on school buses heading off to school.
"I think we were lucky today is MLK Day," Finn said. "Schools and many businesses were already closed for that, but for those who are [working], we're working to keep the roads open."
The city crews will continue to work throughout the afternoon and into the evening to make sure roads are cleared for traffic heading into the morning hours on Tuesday. This will be important, as schools are expected to re-open after taking the Martin Luther King Day holiday off.
Finn says the road conditions in the city for schools on Tuesday will depend on how much more snow falls on Monday, as well as the duration of snow fall for the day. His department will remain in constant communication with the Buffalo Public School District to determine whether or not schools will be open on Tuesday.
"We have an open line of communication with their chief operating officer," Finn said. "We get together with them at various points and discuss the condition of city roads, what the forecast is saying, and what we're expecting from a snow fighting ability to be the case when everyone wakes up in the morning. I'm confident we'll be continuing that open line of communication with the Board of Education so they can make their decision on what to do for tomorrow."
The city will continue to evaluate the conditions of the roadways when determining whether or not to upgrade the travel advisory to a travel ban.
Also, Finn says it is up to New York State whether or not to shut down the I-190 or the Skyway due to inclement weather conditions. He has not heard from the state yet on whether to shut down either roadway.
You can listen to the entirety of Finn's comments from Monday morning below:
