In late January 1977, New York state’s neurobiological science was challenged by meteorology with an anomalous blizzard or ground blizzard that moved snow from Lake Erie into Buffalo using sustained winds of near hurricane speeds (69 miles per hour). Normally, when it snows, clouds supply the snow that accumulates on the ground from the sky. In this case, wind helped to max out total snowfall at or over 45 feet in Buffalo and to produce whiteouts or zero visibility in Buffalo. This event demonstrated it is possible for a blizzard to occur without actually adding new snowflakes to the accumulation of snow on the ground since there were significant amounts already present. By demonstrating that snowfall could occur as a result of using powerful winds to transport previously falling or formed snow particles, this event further demonstrated that weather is not necessarily dependent on new material, but solely dependent on moving pre-existing materials in the environment.
How the state of New York disappeared under snow that never fell from the clouds
The winter storm of 1977 in Buffalo, New York, resulted from an unusual type of weather event known as a ‘ground blizzard’; a weather system in which strong winds are responsible for transporting snow that’s already on the ground instead of atmospheric precipitation.Before January 28, Buffalo had already received record amounts of snow. Because Lake Erie was frozen over and covered with thick, loose powder, when an arctic cold front came through, high-speed winds with gusts exceeding 75 mph blew through the lake, resulting in large amounts of snow being blown into the city of Buffalo, causing it to snow.The storm produced a falling snow event that did not originate with precipitation, as the weather was mostly clear and no precipitation was falling. Otherwise, the great amount of blowing snow could only be composed of recycled ice crystals, therefore, producing a weather event which could not be detected by conventional weather satellite precipitation sensors.
Why didn’t a frozen surface stop the storm
While most lake-effect snowstorms occur when there is open water and the conditions allow enough moisture in the form of clouds to form, the 1977 event occurred after the entire lake surface was ice-covered. According to NOAA, the legacy snow pack from the previous-month-long cold spell resulted in the remaining snow from the lake being very light and dry. The weather-related wind speeds, which were different from normal, and the extremely low temperature created the conditions necessary to produce a zero visibility condition for an extended period. This condition trapped 17,000 people inside their cars and their workplaces throughout Western New York and Southern Ontario.
How the army corps reopened Buffalo
Not only did the wind blow away the snow, but it also compressed and transformed the snow into a hard, concrete-like substance. The high wind speeds also compacted the individual snow crystals, causing the snow drifts to be in excess of 30 feet high, therefore too heavy and not able to be removed with typical ploughing equipment. President Jimmy Carter issued his first federal declaration of ‘emergency’ as a result of a snowstorm and initiated ‘Operation Snow Go.’ Heavy industrial loaders and trenching machines were sent in by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the National Guard to literally carve out roads through the ice.
