Heavy snow overnight, some closures announced, travel advisory issued, plus weather/road updates

By Howard B. Owens
Nov 18, 2014, 6:33am

Heavy snow hit parts of the county overnight. There were weather alerts during the early morning hours calling for bands of lake effect snow capable of dropping up to four inches of snow per hour.

Portions of Route 33 and Route 77 are closed.

The Sheriffs' Office has issued a travel advisory. The western part of the county, west of Batavia, has been particularly hard hit. The office is advising against any unnecessary travel this morning.

Here's a list of closures so far:

Batavia City Schools
Oakfield-Alabama Central School District, including all after school activities
Byron-Bergen Central School District
Elba Central School District
BOCES Batavia
Notre Dame and St. Joe's
Pembroke Central School District
All courts in Genesee County, including County Court and City Court, are closed. Jurors are advised to stay home.
Town of Pembroke
Batavia Town Hall
The Law Offices of Bonarigo & McCutcheon
UMMC medical offices on Summit and at Med-Tech
Desa Frias DDS
Pembroke Diagnostics, located at 860 Main Street Road, Corfu
Le Roy Central Schools
Pembroke Family Medicine
City of Batavia Yard Waste Station
Town of Darien
Genesee Urgent Care
En Garde Batavia, classes cancelled
OPEN! -- Dr. Michael Merrill, Medical Office at 229 Summit St., Batavia
Independent Living of Genesee Region, at noon
Mental Health Association
GCASA closed until 3 p.m.
NOTE: Regarding closure of medical offices in the Summit Street area, best to call ahead. Some are open, some aren't.
Pediatric Associates of Batavia
LeRoy Urgent Care is CLOSED today.
LeRoy Diagnostics is open until 4 pm.
Batavia Urgent Care at the Jerome Center is OPEN
The Geneseee County Animal Shelter is closed today, for both the public and volunteers.
The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership BSI Conference is cancelled for tomorrow, rescheduled to Dec.15. Same time, same place.
Batavia Tailors & Cleaners is closing at 3 p.m.
The town of Batavia Planning Board Meeting and Public Hearing scheduled for tonight - Tuesday, November 18th at 7:30 p.m. has been cancelled due to weather conditions. The Public Hearing regarding an application for a Special Use Permit by 5069 East Main LLC will be held on Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. which is the next regularly scheduled Planning Board Meeting. Kathleen Jasinski, Chairman, Town of Batavia Planning Board
Tountas Family Care
Richmond Memorial Library will be closing at 5 p.m.
Classic Optical - Closing at 2pm.
Sweet Pea's Cupcakery & Cafe - Closing at 2 p.m.
Mane Attraction Salon & Spa - Closing at 2 p.m.
Wendy's his canceling is "frozen" event. The restaurant will close early, probably about 8 p.m.
Planning and Development Committee meeting cancelled
Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union closed at 3 p.m.
Next Level Fitness
City Slickers
Showtime Theater
Olivers

Send closures to howard@thebatavian.com. You can send weather photos to the same address.

UPDATE: The Thruway is shut down west of Henrietta.

UPDATE 7 a.m.: The National Weather Service says continued heavy snowfall in the western half of the county will continue throughout the morning commute, with snowfall of up to 4 inches per hour in the most intense bands. Thunder and lightning are possible.

UPDATE 7:07 a.m.: Even though the Thruway is closed, people are still trying to get to it. Traffic is tied up on Oak Street.

UPDATE 7:12 a.m.: Top photo submitted by Ashleigh Dominiak showing Route 33 and Route 77 in Corfu at 4:45 a.m.

UPDATE 7:44 a.m.: Law enforcement is looking for information from dispatchers on whether the box stores can make parking lots available for stranded trucks. A plow opeator: "Traffic is just killing us right now. ... We can't get anywheres." There's too many cars on the road.

UPDATE 8:47 a.m.: One highway worker to another, there's a car buried on Colby Road. "Yeah, there's a couple of them. They're everywhere." We're hearing numerous reports of cars stranded on various roads.

.UPDATE 9:07 a.m.: Travel bans issued for the towns of Pembroke and Darien. The Sheriff's Office is asking all drivers to stay out of those areas until conditions improve.

UPDATE 9:15 a.m.: Town of Batavia, all available manpower to fire stations.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: Pembroke, Indian Falls, and Corfu fire departments are told to shut down southbound Route 77. Also, the travel ban now applies to Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion.

UPDATE 11:21 a.m.: Route 5 westbound at Route 77 is closed to all traffic.

UPDATES 11:36 a.m.: Bethany and Pavilion fire departments are asked to shut down all westbound traffic on Route 20, at the request of Alexander.

UPDATE 11:55 a.m.: A reader called about Route 5 being closed at Wortendyke. He said the roadway appeared to be clear. We e-mailed Sheriff Gary Maha about it and here is his response:

I just talked to Dispatch. They are now diverting westbound traffic north on RT 63 instead of letting them get as far as Wortendyke. The problem is not on RT 5 but at Brickhouse Corners. That area can not handle any more traffic until the mess is cleared up. There is still a travel ban in effect for the Towns of Pembroke, Darien, Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion. Highway crews are out working hard to clear these roads of stranded vehicles and plowing them and the travel ban will be lifted once this is completed. We don't need more traffic in these areas getting stuck and making matters worse.

Additional reader photos below.