A winter storm continued to envelop much of the United States on Saturday, bringing blinding blizzards, freezing rain, flooding and life threatening cold.
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The storm that arrived earlier in the week downed power lines, littered highways with piles of cars in deadly accidents and led to mass flight cancellations.
The storm was nearly unprecedented in its scope, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.
Freezing rain coated much of the Pacific Northwest in a layer of ice, while people in the Northeast faced the threat of coastal and inland flooding.
Adding to the woes were power outages that by late Friday were still affecting more than a million homes and businesses, according to the website PowerOutage, which tracks utility reports.
As millions of Americans were traveling ahead of Christmas, more than 5,700 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Friday, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
Multiple highways were closed and crashes claimed at least six lives, officials said. Four people died in a massive pileup involving some 50 vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike. A Kansas City, Missouri, driver was killed Thursday after skidding into a creek, and three others died Wednesday in separate crashes on icy northern Kansas roads.
While Staten Island and the rest of the New York City area avoided the wrath of Winter Storm Elliot, the same can’t be said for parts of upstate New York.
Despite already receiving a reported 12 inches or so of snow, Buffalo can expect at least another three to four feet through the rest of the Christmas weekend thanks in large part to ongoing lake-effect snow showers, according to Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Governor Kathy Hochul provided an update to New Yorkers as a winter storm brought significant rain, snow and high winds across the State overnight, and blizzard-like conditions in Western New York
On Thursday, Governor Hochul declared a statewide State of Emergency ahead of the event, which went into effect at 6 a.m. Friday. Governor Hochul advised New Yorkers planning to travel this weekend to reconsider as a significant drop in temperatures Friday afternoon will cause significant flash freezing and icy road conditions.
Today and continuing into Saturday morning, much of the state is expected to see strong winds up to 60 miles per hour or more as temperatures will drop quickly and significantly, by more than 35 degrees in some regions, causing flash freezing, below zero wind chills and icy road conditions.
This has already impacted conditions in Western New York and is expected to impact the rest of the state by this evening's commute.
Winds on Friday and Saturday will be strong enough to cause downed trees and power lines.
Lakeshore flooding off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is possible in flood-prone areas due to rain, snowmelt and strong winds.
Tonight and continuing through Monday, lake effect snow will impact the Buffalo and Watertown areas off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and strong winds are expected to cause blowing and drifting snow with near zero visibility and localized blizzard conditions.
The Buffalo and Watertown areas could see up to three feet of snow through Sunday night. Below normal, freezing temperatures with low wind chills are expected to persist through Monday for upstate regions.
Governor Hochul urged New Yorkers to take all necessary precautions, if traveling this week, and plan ahead for significant weather impacts.
Multiple Blizzard Warnings, Coastal Flood Warnings, Lakeshore Flood Warnings, High Wind Warnings, Wind Chill Warnings, and Winter Storm Warnings are all in effect for this weekend in various counties across the state.
"New Yorkers are experiencing a life threatening and dangerous winter storm, with freezing temperatures and coastal flooding statewide, and snow and ice particularly in Western and Northern New York.
"In coordination with Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, I am deploying 54 members of the National Guard to Erie County to assist residents, particularly those who have emergency medical appointments and need help traveling. These members will be on the ground in a matter of hours.
"I want to assure New Yorkers that all of our state resources are deployed to help with storm recovery efforts, and we are coordinating closely with local officials across the state. Remember: stay off the roads and take precautions to stay safe in your home." ■