Harrowing Videos Show Once-in-a-Generation Storm Slam NY Amid Arctic Blast

Videos circulating online Friday showed strong winter storm conditions hitting parts of New York amid extremely powerful winds and low temperatures.

Many of the videos posted showed strong winds and whiteout conditions across Buffalo, New York. One clip posted to Twitter by meteorologist Reed Timmer, who warned of "dangerous blizzard conditions," showed a storm surge flooding Buffalo Naval Park, with winds over 60 miles per hour.

"'You can't see anything:' Extreme meteorologist @ReedTimmerAccu reports from within the heart of what he calls a once-in-a-generation winter storm striking #Buffalo, New York," AccuWeather tweeted, sharing a video of Timmer covering the blizzard.

Meanwhile, another video posted by Live Storm Chasers on Friday night showed the view from what appears to be the porch of a house covered with snow along with two parked cars during the whiteout conditions.

"Wild weather ongoing currently across Buffalo, New York! Take a look at the blizzard whiteout conditions!" Live Storm Chasers tweeted.

Brian Hurley, senior branch forecaster at the National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center, told Newsweek on Saturday that there is still a bit of snow falling over Upper Michigan and downwind of Lake Erie as well as Buffalo.

"We are still seeing quite a bit of snow in the Hill Plateau of upstate New York, downwind of Lake Ontario. So that is where the heaviest additional snowfall will be," he said, adding that blizzard warnings are continuing in those areas. "We still have about 4 million people still under blizzard warnings right now."

Hurley predicts that the extreme weather conditions will persist overnight Saturday and into Christmas across the Great Lakes. Light snow accumulation of 1 or 2 inches are also expected from the upper Midwest to the middle of the country going onto Monday.

Some parts of the country are experiencing threatening cold temperatures as winter Storm Elliot hit ahead of the Christmas weekend, prompting weather warnings and disrupting travel plans.

The NWS said the storm is bringing heavy snow, powerful winds and dangerously cold temperatures from the northern Great Basin through the Plains, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and the northern/central Appalachians through Saturday.

A blizzard warning was issued Thursday in Buffalo, which covers the entire Niagara Frontier. NWS Buffalo said on Twitter that the area will be hit by snow, strong wind, and -10 to -25 Fahrenheit wind chills on Friday, adding that travel will be "difficult to impossible" throughout the holiday weekend.

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport announced Friday afternoon that it will temporarily close due to the storm. The extreme winter conditions prompted New York Governor Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency on Thursday along with closures of some highways in parts of Western New York.

Meanwhile on Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that a cross-agency task force has been activated to respond to the impacts of the winter storm.

"New York City will endure winter weather today with strong winds and dangerously low temperatures tonight. @NYCEmergencyMgt has activated a cross-agency response to protect vulnerable populations, remove debris from roadways and keep our city safe. Follow @notifynyc for updates," he said.

Extreme winter conditions are also impacting other parts of the country with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear also announcing state of emergencies.

Additionally, over 3,500 flights were canceled and 2,100 others were delayed as of early Friday afternoon due to the weather, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Drivers were also advised to stay off roads unless absolutely necessary because of icy streets or flooding from overnight rain. Meanwhile, thousands of power outages have been reported across the country.

Hurley on Saturday warned of persisting low temperatures, with 60 million people in the country under wind chill advisories. "As we get into Christmas morning, low temperatures tomorrow morning are still going to be below zero over the northern plains and upper Midwest," he said.

Hurley advised "limiting the time outdoors" amid extremely cold temperatures to avoid a risk of frostbite, which happens within minutes and gets even "worse" when it's windy.

"When you walk outside your core temperature, the higher the wind, the more it's going to drop, so you want to limit exposure and just be prepared and if you're not prepared with the proper warm weather clothing, you just have to limit your time outside," Hurley recommended.

Newsweek reached out to Todd R Morris, president of the Global Weather and Climate Consulting LLC, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and meteorologist James Caron for comment.

Update 12/24/2022, 5:07 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Hurley.