BUFFALO, N.Y. — The sheer force of Western New York weather was on display during the Blizzard of 2022 in late December. The Buffalo History Museum is already making sure it’s not forgotten in the years and decades to come.

"It will take years, if not decades to kind of fully understand the historical significance," said Brian Hayden of the Buffalo History Museum.

The Blizzard of 2022 was a once-in-a-generation storm that blasted Buffalo like few others in recent memory.

"Blizzards are always right at the heart of what everyone has some shared experience of," Hayden said.

Leafing through the archives at the Buffalo History Museum, Hayden, the museum’s communications and community relations director, looks back at another devastating weather event that’s become part of Western New York lore — the Blizzard of 1977.

"It’s haunting in a way," Hayden said. "These were different storms with different impacts.

"Old newspaper clippings and black and white images sort of show what the city was living through then during that historic storm," Hayden added.

Just as it did 46 years ago, the museum is already documenting the stories of the most recent blizzard.

"We knew that what we lived through in December of '22 was history in the making, and that’s why we really put the call out for Buffalonians to submit their memories, their photos, their testimonials," said Hayden.

The museum has a website where people can send in pictures, videos and audio testimonials of what they saw during the storm.

"We are the keeper of the Buffalo story and for future generations to better understand what happened, and also to learn from what happened," Hayden said.

Three-dimensional objects will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.

"We don’t really know what those are until we find them," said Hayden.

A shovel used to dig out a driveway probably won’t make the cut.

"But if you used a shovel or some other instrument to save someone’s life in the storm, then suddenly that object takes on a whole different significance and really explains why this was such a significant event," said Hayden.

While it’s too soon to know exactly how those artifacts will be featured, they will be preserved and one can look at the museum’s display on the Blizzard of ’77 as they look to see to it that the city’s collective memory never fades.

"It’s really just so important to document this history in our community as it happens," Hayden said.

The Buffalo History Museum is already busy curating more than 80 submissions it has received. If you’d like to submit photos, videos or audio of what you experienced during the blizzard, you can send it to the museum by clicking here.