By CARA ANNA and

CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press

LOWVILLE, NY — Heavy snow and sweltering temperatures kept parts of the United States in a deep cold Sunday as the Thanksgiving weekend drew to a close. Some snowmobilers and skiers enjoyed the wintry conditions, while Flint fans prepared for the NFL game in Buffalo.

In the remote Tug Hill region of upstate New York, where lake-effect snow off Lake Ontario can dump several feet of snow at a time, there was up to to 46 inches in the Barnes Corners area.

“We just keep digging” said Kevin Tyo, a local businessman. “Yesterday we stayed out all day plowing. » Like many locals, he has a plow attached to his truck for the winter, “and I have a tractor with a bucket and a snow blower.”

His advice? “If you’re not used to it, stay home. If you’re away, slow down.

Lake-effect snow occurs when warm, moist air is blown over a body of water and mixes with colder, drier air, creating narrow bands of often heavy snow on land. Pileups can come quickly: The hard-hit U.S. Army Fort Drum, near Watertown, New York, issued a warning that up to 19 inches of daytime snow could fall on Sunday.

Commercial vehicles remained prohibited on both directions of I-90 in western New York for a nearly 134-mile stretch to the Pennsylvania line.

Buffalo Bills kickoff set for Sunday night

In Buffalo, NFL Bills officials had been looking for stadium snow shovelers for the season, including before Sunday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. The team said they would pay $20 an hour and provide food and hot drinks.

The lake-effect storm began hitting the area Saturday near the Bills’ stadium in Orchard Park, New York. Snow fell near the stadium a few hours before the match.

“Snow totals will be highly dependent on whether the current lake effect snow moves just south of the stadium or stays in place longer at the stadium,” » said the National Weather Risk Communication Center on the social platform X.

An additional one to two feet of snow was possible in Western New York, and an additional two to three feet was possible in Upstate New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said Sunday .

Stuck in a car overnight with kids

Christine Schintzius set out on clear roads Friday with her sons, 4 and 8, and nieces, 12 and 15, from Wales, New York, southeast of Buffalo. They planned to attend a hockey tournament in Cleveland, but found themselves snowed in for 19 hours in a Honda Pilot.

They faced seemingly endless lines of stopped traffic, first on Interstate 90 near the New York-Pennsylvania border for nine hours, then again on Route 5 in Pennsylvania for 10 hours, until until the inhabitants chase them away.

“It was packed, there were tons of people, tons” Schintzius said by phone Sunday.

While stuck on Route 5, Schintzius never turned off her car, fearing it would restart in the cold. Two truckers watched them during the night. In the morning, police checked in, along with a resident who walked the line of cars handing out muffins and making sure stranded drivers had water.

“Luckily, all my children, my nieces, all travel well” said Schintzius, who had packed a cooler full of lunch meats, snacks, yogurt and fruit. “And luckily I still had a full tank of gas.”

When they were finally freed from reinforcements on Saturday, Schintzius took a circuitous route home, avoiding the worst of the snow that was still falling.

“I was worried I would never be stuck in there again” she said.

New York and Pennsylvania declare states of emergency

Last week, a blast of Arctic air brought frigid temperatures 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average across the Northern Plains, the National Weather Service said. Frigid air is expected to move across the eastern third of the United States by Monday, with temperatures about 10 degrees below average.

Officials in Erie, Pennsylvania, said Sunday that lake-effect snow produced “perfidious” conditions that stranded even snow plows as they worked around the clock. The city estimated that about 100 cars citywide blocked roads and had to be towed to avoid the plows. Due to the snow emergency in the City of Erie, City Hall will be closed to the public Monday and Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a disaster emergency proclamation Saturday and said parts of Erie County in the northwest received nearly 2 feet of snow, and that d Others were expected until Monday evening.

Pennsylvania State Police responded to nearly 200 incidents during a 24-hour period from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, officials said.

Michigan is also beaten

Parts of Michigan were hit by lake-effect snow as swaths rolling across Lake Superior buried parts of the Upper Peninsula under 2 feet or more, said Lily Chapman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

There was 27 inches of snow northeast of Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula. More than a foot (30.5 centimeters) could fall on the eastern Upper Peninsula through Monday morning, Chapman said Saturday.

Gaylord, Michigan, received 24.8 inches of snow Friday, setting a single-day record for the city in a region dotted with ski resorts.

Joseph Delizio, a Gaylord-based meteorologist, said heavy snowfall, especially lake-effect snow, is not unusual for this time of year. “but this magnitude certainly is not.”

A light dusting of snow fell across Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, creating a beautiful backdrop for Christmas decorations and good practices for road crews.

Over the next few days, minimum temperatures in Appalachia are expected to drop to between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.