More Snow Expected in Western New York

Forecasters say up to one more meter of snow is expected to fall Thursday in Buffalo, New York, two days after the city was literally buried by a massive winter storm.

The new snow will add to the 1.5 meters of snow that left residents trapped in their homes and motorists stranded in their vehicles along a long stretch of the New York State Thruway. Forecasters say the eventual snowfall totals will be as much as the city usually gets during an entire winter.

Seven people have now been confirmed dead in connection with the storm, including a man found dead in his car buried under the snow. Four other people died of heart-related causes.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency in 10 counties in the western New York region. Cuomo told reporters Wednesday this could be a record-breaking snowfall "when all is said and done."

Meteorologists blame the blizzard on a phenomenon known as "lake effect snow," which occurs when warm moist air rising from Lake Erie collides with cold winds blowing across the water.

Such storms can also be unpredictable -- while some parts of Buffalo are completely buried in snow, areas just a few kilometers away have only five centimeters.

An Arctic blast brought freezing temperatures to a large portion of the United States, and early snowfall to others, early in the week of Nov. 17, 2014. While cold temperatures affected much of the country, western New York state was hit with over two meters of snow, paralyzing much of the region.