Since November 29, a powerful blizzard has brought feet of snow to communities from Michigan to New York in the U.S.
The record-breaking snowfalls resulted from the collision of Arctic cold with unusually warm water from the Great Lakes. These events, known as "lake-effect snow," are typical for winter in this region. However, this time, the snowfall was especially intense, with some areas seeing up to 4 inches of snow per hour.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, on November 29, an absolute daily snowfall record was set with 22,6 inches of snow. In Barnes Corners, New York, by the morning of December 2, the snow depth had reached an astonishing 65,5 inches.
Due to zero visibility and snowdrifts, travel was completely halted on several interstate highways. The situation was made worse by the timing of the storm, coinciding with the post-Thanksgiving travel peak, when millions of people were returning home. The National Guard was mobilized to assist drivers stranded on snow-covered roads.
A state of emergency was declared in areas near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
But the storm was not only remarkable for its extraordinary snowfall. It also included rare wintertime phenomena, such as thunderstorms and waterspouts.
The Arctic air brought unseasonably cold temperatures to nearly the entire U.S., including the Florida Peninsula.
Blizzards also struck the Canadian province of Ontario, causing significant disruptions in traffic, snowdrifts, and widespread power outages.
In Gravenhurst, located 109 miles north of Toronto, about 55 inches of snow fell. The mayor noted that in her 27 years living in the town, she had never encountered this much snow in such a short time.
On Highway 11, a key transportation artery in the province, a 62-mile stretch was closed for more than 50 hours due to unsafe travel conditions.
The overall damage was substantial, and recovery efforts are still ongoing.
Cataclysms are intensifying worldwide, and this is happening much faster than most experts had predicted. What is causing these events, and what steps can we take to stop the escalation of climate chaos? Answers to these questions were found in a study presented at the COP16 conference in the documentary “Climate Crisis and Ocean Pollution: Global Challenges and Solutions.”
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