Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Western New York region is amazingly dealing with its first significant widespread snow storm of the season.
Starting at 7 p.m. EST on Sunday, a Winter Storm Warning went into for the Southern Tier region of Western New York, including Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Alleghany and Southern Erie Counties. Then at 9 p.m. EST, the rest of Western New York went under a Winter Storm Warning, which included Northern Erie, Wyoming, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans Counties.
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.
The northern counties in Western New York will see the Winter Storm Warning remain in effect until 7 p.m. EST on Monday, while the southern counties will see their warning remain in effect until 10 p.m. EST.
By early Monday morning, already a foot of snow had fallen at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
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With a heavy amount of snow expected to fall in the region, snow plow drivers across Western New York are getting ready for a long stretch of hours clearing out roads and staying ahead of the storm.
"We are very prepared," said the Superintendent of Highways in the Town of Clarence, James Dussing. "We had a little break in the weather, so we were able to fill our salt barn right now. Salt is in good supply right now. We've also gotten some of our employees back from COVID issues, that has been plaguing everybody. So equipment is in good shape, we have plenty of salt, and we'll have people to man the plows. Things are looking good for us."
"I think we're going to be as prepared as we possibly can," said owner Arbor Lawns in Orchard Park, Geoff Bray. "Obviously this year hasn't been a big snow season yet for us. All our equipment is inside, it's maintained, and we're just hoping for the best."
Despite this bring the first significant snow storm forecasted of the season for all of Western New York, it doesn't mean that plow drivers can start to overthink how things will play out. The best thing that they can do take what's being thrown at them and adjust from there.
"We have to react to whatever Mother Nature brings our way, and I think most municipalities and our other partners in government react the same," Dussing said. "It doesn't really do us any good to look at all the numbers. We just have to make the phone calls and get the people in when we need to."
It certainly has been a unique year, to this point, with this storm being the first to strike the entire region. A week-and-a-half ago saw a burst of lake effect snow dump around a foot-and-a-half of snow on Buffalo and the city's surrounding area, but that band of snow only affected a smaller region.
When making preparations for this storm, there's only so much that snow plow drivers, crew leaders or service owners can do to prepare for the forecasts. While being ready to go with enough salt or having equipment all geared up is certainly important, it's not always easy to forecast what's going to happen next.
"I think the big thing is, you have to prepare your guys, you let them know and do what you can to have [them mentally prepared]. I think a lot of times a storm like this is more mental than actually mechanical," Bray said.
"Obviously we'll have everything greased, we'll put additives in all the machines, and all the machines have been properly gone through prior. A lot of it is just mental, and being ready to be out there for 10, 12 to 18 hours. Whatever it takes, you've got to just keep plowing through the storm, try to bite littler pieces here-and-there, and keep moving forward."
With Monday also being Martin Luther King Day, that might make things a bit challenging to make sure drivers are around and ready to be on call to go clear some roadways.
However, with the nationwide shortage of drivers in all sorts of industries, how are towns and other local businesses handling possible shortages for plow drivers?
"We had a little blast [more than] a week ago. We did have, at that time, about 20% of our personnel on some kind of COVID leave," Dussing explained. "We were able to pull people from other departments and get done what we had to get done. We will do the same thing, if that's what we have to do this time around. I'm hoping some of our people are back, our numbers are better than they were the later snow, and we'll be prepared."
As for Bray, he says he's one driver short this season to play, which has taken a bit of a hit for business.
"We're going to have a truck that's going to sit because of the shortage," Bray said. "We, unfortunately, had to give up 65 driveways just to make sure that we had enough with our labor situation. It's kind of crazy taking a step backwards instead of moving forward, but that's what we had to do, and now we're physically capable of maintaining what we have."
As the snow continues to fall on Monday, it is likely there will be a curveball or two thrown at snow plow drivers. Whether it'd be a mechanical problem or a change in the forecast, drivers are wanting to stress to everyone to have some patience with circumstances potentially changing on a dime.
"The problem is with something this big, we're not always going to be perfect. So I kind of tell my customers, 'Some days you're going to love us, and other days you're going to think we're not so great,'" Bray said. "I just hope Monday is not one of those not-so great days, but we will be out there trying to keep ahead of it."