Storm Elliott has buried Buffalo in record levels of snowfall as the US’ Christmas weather chaos rages on. New York City was one of thousands of areas in the US under a weather warning while the winter storm brought Arctic pressure, extreme winds, blizzard conditions and power outages to millions. Deaths from the winter storm have reached at least 16, and more than 1.5 million Americans were without power at times due to the conditions.
According to AccuWeather, Friday’s total snowfall ended at a record of 22.3 inches in Buffalo, smashing the previous record.
It nearly doubled the previous daily maximum snowfall record of 12.6 inches set in 1976.
While the storm eventually turned into heavy snow, it moved into the city as a rain event in the early hours of Friday.
Buffalo also received 1.98 inches of rain, breaking again a prior daily record of 1.73 inches which stood since 1878.
“(It is) one of the most extensive, most intense blizzards I’ve ever covered,” AccuWeather extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer said while covering the storm.
He added: “Just a feeling out here of helplessness not being able to see anything, losing your sense of up versus down.”
The US’ National Weather Service in Buffalo, New York, showed off a video with ‘zero mile’ visibility conditions at the city’s airport.
“We don’t even want to be parked in it, you definitely don’t want to be driving in it”, they said.
READ MORE: Aer Lingus flight emergency as Dublin-bound plane U-turns due to fire
It comes as three have died in relation to the winter storm in New York’s Erie County, county officials said on Saturday morning.
Two people also died in separate incidents Friday night when emergency medical personnel could not get to their homes in time for medical emergencies, and a county spokesperson confirmed a third storm-related fatality to CNN on Saturday afternoon.
Wisconsin State Patrol on Thursday reported one fatal crash due to winter weather, and the Tennessee Department of Health on Friday confirmed one storm-related fatality.
Meanwhile, four died in weather-related auto accidents in Ohio, three died in Kentucky, three died in weather-related traffic accidents in Kansas, and another person died in Kansas after their caravan slid off the icy road and into a frozen creek.
The conditions in New York State are so fierce, a woman’s 85-year-old grandmother and her father have been stuck on New York State Route 198 in Buffalo, New York, since Friday afternoon.
Lia Belle told CNN her relatives are among the “couple hundred” that officials in Erie County say are likely still trapped in their vehicles during the winter storm.
“There is nothing more I want other than their safety right now”, she told the broadcaster, noting they are less than a mile from home.
Erie County officials also told the broadcaster first responders have been making efforts to rescue residents from the roads.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told CNN’s Sarah Sidner Saturday: “It’s still a very dire situation.
“There is a driving ban that’s going on for the whole county, and there’s a reason why, it’s because conditions are still so dire that you can easily get stuck, and then you are taking resources off the road when you really need it.”
