Lake-effect snow pummeled areas around Buffalo for a second straight day, leaving residents stuck in their homes as officials tried to clear massive snow mounds with another storm looming.
Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard as more than 5 feet fell in parts of the city by Wednesday morning. Some areas were expected to get 6 feet by the storm's end Wednesday afternoon. A second storm was due Wednesday night.
The storm was blamed for five deaths in New York including three from heart attacks.
A 132-mile stretch of the state Thruway in western New York remained closed as authorities continue their efforts to rescue motorists stranded on a Buffalo-area section of the highway. Officials with the Thruway Authority and state police did not provide information on how many people remained stranded.
Northeastern Ohio largely escaped the heaviest snows in this week's storm but has seen the cold. Temperatures in Youngstown and Ashtabula are in the mid-teens with some communities reporting sub-zero wind chills this morning.
Amtrak passenger train service between Albany and the Buffalo area remains suspended to due severe lake-effect storms that have dumped more than 4 feet of snow on parts of western New York.