BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on wintry weather in upstate New York (all times local):
10:40 p.m.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is warning that drivers who violate the truck ban on sections of the New York State Thruway face up to $450 in fines, two points on their license and potential criminal charges.
Troopers say some of the vehicles involved in the 2 p.m. Wednesday crash on a snowy section of the thoroughfare between Buffalo and Rochester were tractor-trailers, even though the trucks have been banned from the road because of the storm.
Cuomo says there’s an ongoing investigation into the crash, which shut east- and westbound lanes on that section for several hours. All lanes have since been reopened.
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8:25 p.m.
A snowy section of the New York State Thruway in western New York that had been shut down following a crash involving more than 20 cars and trucks has reopened.
State police said that all eastbound and westbound lanes on I-90 were open Wednesday night.
Heavy snow and high winds made driving treacherous on the thoroughfare between Buffalo and Rochester. Troopers say some of the vehicles involved in the 2 p.m. Wednesday crash were tractor-trailers, even though the trucks have been banned from the road because of the storm.
State police say a trooper suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash.
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4:10 p.m.
Police say a crash involving more than 20 cars and trucks has shut down a section of the New York State Thruway in western New York, where heavy snow and high winds have made driving treacherous.
Troopers say some of the vehicles involved in the 2 p.m. Wednesday crash between Buffalo and Rochester are tractor-trailers, even though the trucks have been banned from the thoroughfare because of the storm.
State police say a trooper suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash. The number and extent of other injuries isn’t yet known.
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1:50 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings for sections of northern and western New York and officials are urging people to stay inside.
Heavy wind-driven snow is causing whiteout conditions amid sub-zero wind chills.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz issued a state of emergency, along with travel bans in several suburbs as conditions deteriorated Wednesday. Schools and many offices are closed.
Blizzard warnings are in effect through 1 a.m. Thursday in Erie, Genesee and Wyoming counties in western New York and Jefferson and Lewis counties in central New York.
Tractor-trailers and commercial buses are banned from the New York State Thruway and other highways in those areas.
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10:16 a.m.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging people to stay off western New York roads as authorities deal with an arctic blast that’s causing whiteout conditions and bringing dangerously low wind chills.
The Democrat says at a news conference in suburban Buffalo Wednesday morning that there’s 11 inches of snow on the ground, with more expected throughout the day.
Cuomo says high winds and plunging temperatures will create dangerous conditions that “should not be taken lightly.”
Travel bans for tractor-trailers and buses remains in effect for several western New York highways. Those vehicles will also be banned from traveling on the northern stretch of Interstate 81 from I-90 at Syracuse to the Canadian border.
Authorities closed schools in Buffalo and surrounding districts for Wednesday and Thursday. Schools also were closed in the Rochester area.
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