BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – At least 29 deaths connected to the Blizzard of ’22 have been confirmed by local officials as of Tuesday morning, with the majority coming within the City of Buffalo.
The number matches the most commonly reported death toll from the Blizzard of ’77 – widely known as Buffalo’s worst storm of all-time, at least prior to this week.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed 28 storm-related deaths, and one more was reported from Niagara County. The death toll may continue to grow.
Poloncarz offered condolences to families who lost loved ones “as a result of the worst storm that we’ve ever seen.”
Poloncarz said the medical examiner confirmed three more storm-related deaths Tuesday, but changed the official cause of death for others previously included in the count.
The county said it will release a breakdown of the location of the fatalities later Tuesday.
The Niagara County Sheriff’s office on Tuesday identified the man killed in the storm as Timothy M. Murphy of Lockport. They reported he died from carbon monoxide poisoning after heavy snow covered his furnace exhaust vent.
The Sheriff’s office said Kathy D. Murphy was also found unconscious in the residence. She remains in intensive care.
The death toll for the Blizzard of ’77 is most commonly reported as 29, though some sources cite less. Poloncarz said Monday this week’s storm was “the worst I’ve ever seen. And I did live through the Blizzard of ’77.”
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The intensity of the Blizzard of ’22 appears to have surpassed that of the Blizzard of ’77, in terms of wind speed, snowfall and duration of whiteout conditions, though the region may be able to recover quicker this time. Wind gusts over the weekend reached hurricane force, topping 74 mph. The Buffalo Airport received more than 4 feet of snow. Blizzard conditions began Friday morning and lasted until Saturday night in some areas of the city before the snow band shifted south on Sunday, Christmas Day.
By contrast, the Blizzard of ’77 featured sustained winds of 46 mph with gusts up to 69 mph and 13 hours of whiteout conditions, according to a 2017 Buffalo News lookback story. The actual snow total was only about a foot, according to the story, but the iconic — or infamous — snow drifts from ’77 were a result of snow piling up on the ground and on a frozen Lake Erie, and blowing across the region. The lake froze early that year, in December, and snowfall totals in December and January were unusually high. When high winds blew all that snow across Western New York, drifts were said to be as high as second-story windows and power lines.
“I’d be shocked if we got another storm to compare to the Blizzard of ’77 in my lifetime, in my kids’ lifetime or even in their kids’ lifetime,” a National Weather Service meteorologist told the Buffalo News for their story five years ago. He called it a once-in-200-year weather event.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, travel bans were reduced to travel advisories in all of Erie County, except the City of Buffalo, which was among the hardest hit and slowest to dig out. Grocery stores reopened Tuesday after being closed since Friday, and some public transit services resumed. The airport is closed through Wednesday morning.