Coming through Toronto this and was listening to a Buffalo radio station. The weather report came on and said Buffalo was going to get 1 to 2 feet of lake effect snow starting this afternoon and continuing through Wednesday afternoon along with 40 mph winds which will cause blizzard conditions. If you are going that way be careful and keep a heads up.
Beware Buffalo Blizzard Coming This Afternoon
- Thread starter Treadmill
- Start date
Murraycroexp
Veteran Expediter
Guessing that's why there were so many load to buffalo today.
Can confirm. That's a NYS Environmental Conservation Officer standing with me outside of our truck in Hamburg, NY. We're parked (okay...we're stuck) at a Home Depot. His cruiser (a Chevy Tahoe) is under the canopy of the store. No way he's getting out of the parking lot. His snowmobile is around the corner, buried at the toll plaza. He was sent to rescue motorists stranded on the Thruway, and was successful in rescuing one. Sled having a tough time going through 4 feet of fresh powder. They're expecting another 2-3 feet before tomorrow afternoon. A front-end loader will be required to get us out of this lot. The Home Depot closed around 10 this morning. I bought their third-to-last shovel.....of ANY type. The officer came in the truck and enjoyed a cup of coffee with us, and expressed an interest in the business when I told him what we do, and saw the truck.
Have to say how uber-pleased I am with our On-spot auto tire chains. Found out this morning they have limits.....about 12" and they're about useless. However, last night on the Thruway, we were moving well, past many trucks trying to climb a very, very slight incline. Only reason we stopped driving was visibility. Just. Plain. White.
Excellent post, Andy, and great photos, guys.
In all the years I've been driving, I have never been as white knuckle terrified [even when I had to parallel park a semi on the CDL test!] as last winter, in a whiteout blizzard. Couldn't see anything but snow coming straight at me, making me dizzy - no other traffic [on 90 in Indiana], no lane lines, no signs [of civilization, even], mile markers, - nada. I just wanted to get off this crazy ride already! but I couldn't see any exit ramps, either. For all I knew, I could have drifted across the median to the oncoming lane during the loooong time without any apparent contact with the world, right?
I really, really, really
don't want to do that again, so, is it almost spring, yet?
In all the years I've been driving, I have never been as white knuckle terrified [even when I had to parallel park a semi on the CDL test!] as last winter, in a whiteout blizzard. Couldn't see anything but snow coming straight at me, making me dizzy - no other traffic [on 90 in Indiana], no lane lines, no signs [of civilization, even], mile markers, - nada. I just wanted to get off this crazy ride already! but I couldn't see any exit ramps, either. For all I knew, I could have drifted across the median to the oncoming lane during the loooong time without any apparent contact with the world, right?
I really, really, really
don't want to do that again, so, is it almost spring, yet?
Update: We have been plowed out of the lot we were stuck in, and barely made it a block to the Thruway toll plaza. One lane open with a red "X" on it. I drove through and stopped just after. Tons of trucks stuck just before it. Thruway still closed, and the State Trooper I just talked to said that it will stay closed until the next snow event....which just started....is over. 24 more inches on the way. Saw the overpass and the Thruway looked clear, but just turned on local news, and there are still a lot of vehicles stranded on the Thruway. All roads into Canada closed. Gonna be a here a day more, at least.
Huge props to the most beautiful Puerto Rican on the planet (my bride), for keeping our truck so well stocked. She is my hero, and much more than half the man I am.
Huge props to the most beautiful Puerto Rican on the planet (my bride), for keeping our truck so well stocked. She is my hero, and much more than half the man I am.
Hoping for a year with lots of storms and transport disruptions. It's good for rates. Circle like a hawk or as brokers derisively say vultures. That's business.
My philosophy is to park it when it's not safe, but that presupposes one can see an exit ramp, lol.
What's scariest is the possibility that extreme weather is becoming more frequent - or does it just seem that way?
Regardless, I think a good battery powered weather radio is my next acquisition, so maybe, in future, I can exit while the ramp are still visible.
Our final update:
Just got done reading flattop40's post in the Load1 forum. BTDT, FT. Having grown up not far from where we were snowed in, I felt like there was no issues with our travel, and our ability to weather the storm if snowed in. While I was in the 5th grade during the blizzard of '77, this felt a lot like it, from what I remember. It.Just.Kept.Snowing. The whiteouts are no joke. I can handle a brief no-visibility period, until the next gust comes up, but these stinking things are persistent. It was white for a long time, and you can see NOTHING. These are times that make you want to be real intimate with your maker.
As I previously mentioned, we were last on the thruway on-ramp, just past the toll plaza. I was in the sleeper, cutting up apples and some cheese with a really big knife, when a guy comes up next to our truck and beeps. It was the Thruway Authority in a small SUV. He asked where I was headed, and I told him Canada. He said he would get me and the two trucks by us east, but that technically, I-190 was closed in both directions. We could take the risk, but that we were "on our own" if we got stuck. I wanted out, so I risked it. He escorted all 3 trucks through a maze of front-end loaders and dump trucks that were removing snow from I-90 and trucking it away (ran out of places to push it). he and the other 2 trucks pushed east, as we took the exit toward the Peace Bridge. We had I-190 to ourselves. The road was spotless. We were the only vehicle at customs. Crossing the bridge was a tad scary. It got a little hairy in Canada, too, with whiteouts, though they had nowhere near the snow South of Buffalo had. We made delivery 2 minutes before they closed, about 42 hours late. I beat feet to Woodstock, then slept for the night, and continued home. Needed a break, and wanted to wrap my arms around and spoil some grandbabies.
It's going to get nasty again, Flattop40. That rain is going to turn everything to mush, and it is going to snow...again. Get out as soon as you can. Glad to hear that you are safe.
Just got done reading flattop40's post in the Load1 forum. BTDT, FT. Having grown up not far from where we were snowed in, I felt like there was no issues with our travel, and our ability to weather the storm if snowed in. While I was in the 5th grade during the blizzard of '77, this felt a lot like it, from what I remember. It.Just.Kept.Snowing. The whiteouts are no joke. I can handle a brief no-visibility period, until the next gust comes up, but these stinking things are persistent. It was white for a long time, and you can see NOTHING. These are times that make you want to be real intimate with your maker.
As I previously mentioned, we were last on the thruway on-ramp, just past the toll plaza. I was in the sleeper, cutting up apples and some cheese with a really big knife, when a guy comes up next to our truck and beeps. It was the Thruway Authority in a small SUV. He asked where I was headed, and I told him Canada. He said he would get me and the two trucks by us east, but that technically, I-190 was closed in both directions. We could take the risk, but that we were "on our own" if we got stuck. I wanted out, so I risked it. He escorted all 3 trucks through a maze of front-end loaders and dump trucks that were removing snow from I-90 and trucking it away (ran out of places to push it). he and the other 2 trucks pushed east, as we took the exit toward the Peace Bridge. We had I-190 to ourselves. The road was spotless. We were the only vehicle at customs. Crossing the bridge was a tad scary. It got a little hairy in Canada, too, with whiteouts, though they had nowhere near the snow South of Buffalo had. We made delivery 2 minutes before they closed, about 42 hours late. I beat feet to Woodstock, then slept for the night, and continued home. Needed a break, and wanted to wrap my arms around and spoil some grandbabies.
It's going to get nasty again, Flattop40. That rain is going to turn everything to mush, and it is going to snow...again. Get out as soon as you can. Glad to hear that you are safe.
Living in that area sort of Niagara region.....
Rule of thumb....Don't gamble with Buffalo snow....you'll probably lose....don't even think about it....let some other "hero" go in.....
Rule of thumb....Don't gamble with Buffalo snow....you'll probably lose....don't even think about it....let some other "hero" go in.....