In December of 2001, my hometown in New York was hit by one of the worst
“winter storms” in its history. Blinding Snowstorms attacked Buffalo and its
surrounding suburb for four consecutive days. The snow fell so hard that I
could not see my car parked in my driveway or my neighbor’s house across the
street. When I tried to drive to a friend’s house during a temporary lull in the
storm, I had to drive with my head out the side window because I could not
see through the foggy windshield. The snow hit my face like miniature bullets,
and icicles formed in my hair. In fact, the snow fell so hard that, while most
storms are measured in inches, this one was measured in feet. By the time the
storm finally let up four days later, more than seven feet of snow had fallen.
What I saw when I opened my second story bedroom window shocked me. My
entire neighborhood had disappeared under a thick white blanket of snow! As
I looked out the window, my breath visible in the cool, crisp air, I could not see
a single car or bush. Everything was completely buried in the serene
landscape. In sum, what was left after the storm obviously made it one of the
worst winter storms in the New York’s history.