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According to media reports, more than half of the fatalities have been reported in Western New York, with 27 dead as of Monday morning, while the death toll across the U.S. stands at 55.
The massive winter storm has been raging in the country for six days and 60 percent of the population, or more than 200 million people, have come under winter weather watches or warnings.
Western New York has lived through days of blizzards that dropped more than 50 centimeters of snow and plummeted temperatures to minus 22 degrees Celsius, considering the wind chill.
According to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, severe cold temperatures, snowstorms, and freezing rain have affected electric service, leaving 15 000 people without power. The governor said that restoration of service could take place on Tuesday.
At a briefing Monday afternoon, Hochul warned that the situation remains dangerous and that it is too early to say it is over. Such an emergency has required a significant mobilization of utility crews that she described as possibly the largest in New York's history.
Forecasts predict up to another foot of snow to come to the Buffalo area, and one to two feet to come to the Watertown area, today and tomorrow.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 26, 2022
The storm is weakening, but we are not out of the woods yet.
Do not take a chance. Stay home, stay off the roads, and stay safe.
Meanwhile, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Monday morning that snow continues to fall in the Buffalo area, noting that up to 8 to 12 inches of additional snowfall is expected in some areas.
Poloncarz said a state of emergency remains in effect throughout Erie County and a driving ban continues in Buffalo. According to the National Weather Service, a band of heavy lake-effect snow in the Buffalo area this morning produced more than seven cm of snow per hour, with accumulations reaching 30 cm and up to 60 cm for Jefferson and northern Lewis counties.
An advisory issued by the National Weather Service at 11 a.m. Monday said that "increasingly stormy weather will affect the West Coast through Tuesday before spreading across the Rockies ... Persistent lake effect snows in the lee of the Great Lakes will become less intense and fade by Tuesday."
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