Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - The lake effect snow machine continues to churn across Western New York on Tuesday, with some areas reaching well above a foot of snow in the overnight hours. The snow is expected to continue throughout the day and into Wednesday before eventually tapering off.
As the lake effect snow band drifted to the South early Tuesday morning, it allowed the opportunity for residents and businesses in the Village of Orchard Park to clear out what was dumped across the area.
"I think we got off easy this year. Two feet instead of four or six feet," said resident Mike Miller with WBEN.
Co-owner of The Byrd House along N. Buffalo Street, Brendan Biggane feels the village and the rest of the Southtowns got lucky with the snow that fell across the area on Monday.
"The heavy stuff didn't come in until about dinner time or later, when people were probably home from work," said Biggane in an interview with WBEN. "We closed up early last night, most places did. But we were open all day yesterday, and we made something out of nothing, which we like to do during these snow storms here at The Byrd House. We try to get open whenever we can, because we know people here in the village, even if they don't want to drive, they can get out and walk."
Abby from the Town of Collins in Southern Erie County made her way to Orchard Park for work through the treacherous lake effect snow band on Tuesday.
"There's definitely a lot of [snow], and it came pretty quick," said Abby with WBEN. "The ride in wasn't too bad, it's definitely passable. You've got to have some good snow tires, four-wheel drive definitely helps. But the plows are out, they're doing a good job."
Many residents and businesses were pretty pleased with the way roadways and sidewalks have been cleared out, as crews at the local, county and state level try to stay on top of the snow.
"We here in Orchard Park are pretty lucky with the village and town [Public Works] departments that we have. They keep everything pretty clear," Biggane said. [N. Buffalo Street] is a state road, and this is almost down to the pavement. So the crews have been doing a great job. And again, the timing of it all was really key. I got up in the middle of the night last night, and it was coming down in buckets at about 3 a.m. I think it stopped at about 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., or something like that. It gave everybody time to get out and clean it up a little bit."
"It's Buffalo. It snows every year. You've just got to be prepared for it and try not to panic," Abby added. "Make sure you've got a shovel, some salt and some muscle power when it's heavy, but it's alright."
While the snow cleared up a bit early Tuesday, the lake effect band is expected to drift back North and dump more snow on the likes of Orchard Park, Hamburg, East Aurora and West Seneca before all is said and done.
"I'll have to get some lunch and rest after I go clear my daughter's driveway," Miller said with a laugh. "I'm retired now and all I do is shovel snow."
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