Snow, Wreck Strand Hundreds in Western NY

Hundreds of motorists were stranded on a western New York highway today after an accident caused a backup and the idling cars became stuck overnight in heavy snow. A 10-mile section of Interstate 90 was closed in both directions in Buffalo's eastern suburbs, a state trooper said. The highway was closed shortly before 3am after vehicles backed up behind a truck accident were buried in blowing snow.

The truck jackknifed around 8pm last night and has been removed, but crews were still working this morning to free the stranded vehicles, the state trooper noted. It’s “13 miles of bumper-to-bumper cars,” he said. The lake-effect storm that began yesterday dumped up to 23 inches on the Buffalo area. Snowmobiles and emergency vehicles were being used to check on the snowbound motorists.
(More snow stories.)