Highmark Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, showed off why it was vacated for this week’s scheduled Bills game against the Cleveland Browns in a video posted by the team amid the city’s wild thundersnow blizzard.
The video, which is just 14 seconds and posted to the team’s Twitter account, simply said: ‘Update: it’s still snowing.’
You can hear thunder throughout the short span of the video as the flakes fly around the nearly 50-year-old building.
The Buffalo storm air coming off Lake Erie – which still hovers around 52 degrees – collided with cold blizzard clouds and created electrical charges that burst into lightning and thunder.
Buffalo was buried by three feet of the white stuff, with the National Weather Service warning that there could be historic levels of up to four feet.
Two unidentified men died of heart attacks in separate incidents while trying to shovel the snow away, officials announced Friday.
Highmark Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, showed off why it was vacated for this week’s scheduled Bills game against the Cleveland Browns in a video posted by the team amid the city’s wild thundersnow blizzard
The video, which is just 14 seconds and posted to the team’s Twitter account, simply said: ‘Update: it’s still snowing’
The Buffalo storm air coming off Lake Erie – which still hovers around 52 degrees – collided with cold blizzard clouds and created electrical charges that burst into lightning and thunder
Buffalo was buried by three feet of the white stuff, with the National Weather Service warning that there could be historic levels of up to four feet
Other areas are being affected by the arctic snowstorm, with as much as four feet of snow predicted to fall by Sunday
Other areas are being affected by the arctic snowstorm, with as much as four feet of snow predicted to fall by Sunday.
The Bills moved their home game against Cleveland on Sunday to Detroit’s Ford Field, which is an indoor venue.
The Bills announced that their Friday practice had been cancelled but they would meet virtually instead.
‘Due to public safety concerns and out of an abundance of caution in light of the ongoing weather emergency in western New York, Sunday’s Cleveland Browns-Buffalo Bills game will be moved to Ford Field in Detroit at 1 p.m. ET,’ the NFL said.
‘The decision to move the game from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, was done in consultation with the Buffalo Bills and local and state authorities as the region prepares for the storm.’
The Bills tweeted a weather map on Friday afternoon with the caption ‘brb going outside to shovel’ just a few hours later posting pictures of a snow-covered Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo and the surrounding areas turned into a winter wonderland overnight but the huge blanket of snow has caused residents to stay inside unless completely necessary
The only residents seen outside were seen trying to dig out their drives but will likely be doing this till after the weekend
The snow completely covered Buffalo and surrounding areas like here in Hamburg and saw the cancelation of the Bills practice on Friday
As residents dug out the Bills tweeted a weather map on Friday afternoon with the caption ‘brb going outside to shovel’ later posting pictures of a snow-covered Highmark Stadium
The pictures show mountains of powdery snow caked onto seats in the stadium as well as at the goal posts.
With Sunday’s game against the Browns being played in Detroit, the Bills will play two games in five days at Ford Field, as they are scheduled to play the Lions on Thanksgiving in Detroit.
‘[Coach] Sean [McDermott] does a great job of messaging and making sure our guys understand it’s still going to be a football game,’ Bills general manager Brandon Beane said to ESPN.
‘Everything else is the same. It’s a short flight. We’re going to try to keep it as routine as possible. Is it a little disruption? Yes. But I think our guys are pros. They understand it.’
The Bills are expected to return to Buffalo following the game against Cleveland before returning for their Thanksgiving game against the Lions.
Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm, which she characterized as ‘life-threatening.’
The National Weather Service said: ‘The snowfall will produce near zero visibility, difficult to impossible travel, damage to infrastructure, and paralyze the hardest-hit communities.
‘Very cold air will accompany this event, with temperatures 20 degrees below normal forecast by the weekend. Historic snowfall exceeding 4 feet is likely around Buffalo.’
A man could be seen shoveling snow after the snowstorm and extreme winter weather hit Buffalo, New York
Trucks with plows attached started emerging on the street following the bitter weather conditions
Homes were caked with white powder after Buffalo experienced a huge dump of snow overnight
Residents in Buffalo started trying to shift the piles of snow that had been blocking their homes amid a countywide travel ban for safety
Snow covered everything from homes to trees lining the streets and will continue to blanket the city until Sunday
The Lake effect snow warning remains in effect until 1pm on Sunday with totals from 2 to 4 feet of snow predicted to accumulate.
South Buffalo to West Seneca to Elma are at risk of the highest totals while the heaviest snow is expected to fall Friday night when snowfall rates could exceed 3 inches per hour.
Wind gusts have been predicted to get as high as 35 mph and is expected to produce patchy blowing snow.
The National Weather Service has warned that travel will be very difficult to impossible during this time and that hazardous conditions will impact the commute Friday evening.
‘The heavy snow could also bring down some tree limbs and cause scattered power outages,’ they added.
Areas east of Lakes Erie and Ontario could see snowfall at a rate of more than three inches per hour, with gusty winds and lightning also slamming the areas.
The storm’s most intense snow is expected to lash the Buffalo area, where more than 4 feet could pile, making for a forecast not seen in more than 20 years.
The city’s highest three-day snowfall is 56.1 inches, which occurred in December 2001
Residents in Williamstown, Oswego County, had 24 inches of snow on Thursday evening and Oneida County saw 14 inches of the white stuff.
Other areas affected by the storm include parts of the Upper Peninsula and the western Lower Peninsula of Michigan, where gusty winds and heavy snow will also cause near zero visibility and unsafe travel conditions.