Snow finally tapered off early Thursday afternoon in the Southern Tier, setting records along the way.
Some photos from the town of Binghamton pic.twitter.com/Ts9LCBjFRO
— Vince Briga (@VinceBrigaTV) December 17, 2020
The National Weather Service said that, as of 10:15 a.m., the 39.9 inches of snow that have fallen at the Greater Binghamton Airport set a new record for a two-day snowfall, topping the 35.3 inches that fell March 14-15, 2017. The records date back to 1951, according to NWS.
BGM issues Record Event Report (RER) https://t.co/G64KHhNApF
— NWS Binghamton (@NWSBinghamton) December 17, 2020
The storm shut down I-81 northbound between Castle Creek and Whitney Point, according to State Police.
Broome County declared a state of emergency early Wednesday evening, and the city of Binghamton is also under a state of emergency, with city offices closed, according to a statement from Mayor Rich David.
Simply astounding snow totals across the Southern Tier.#WxOnThe1s pic.twitter.com/N1M2KHJdEY
— Carson Metcalf (@CarsonMetcalf) December 17, 2020
Plow drivers have been out in full force like usual, even if the planning process has been a little different this time around due to the coronavirus. The Broome County Sheriff's Department has been using a Humvee to transport people to the hospital, having already made a number of drop-offs.
"Normally for the Emergency Operations Center, everybody comes together," said Broome County Emergency Services Director Mike Ponticiello. "We hear the weather briefing from the NWS together and talk about our county plan. All that is being done virtually. Everybody is watching the briefing individually and then we're getting on and having conference calls and Zoom to formulate the county plan."
“When you’ve got snowfall falling at a rate of four to five inches an hour, it’s almost impossible to keep up with it, and that’s why we all work together," County Executive Jason Garnar said. "I was talking to Mike in our emergency operations center; you’ve really got all your chess pieces in this together and sometimes you have to move them.”
In Endicott right now @SPECNewsCNY pic.twitter.com/xjvOjF8qTJ
— Dan North (@D_NorthTV) December 17, 2020
Despite the storm, neighbors are lending helping hands. Endwell's John Taylor decided to grab his shovel and trudge through waist-level snow to check on a family member.
He says says it’s been decades since he saw this much snow, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
“I think we always have a good heart for everybody," Taylor said. "I was just talking to my neighbors on my side of the road, and everybody’s out trying to help each other and just do good things for each other.”