Published:Monday, February 12, 2007 1:49 PM PST
Serving the South Coast of Oregon

Redfield (N.Y.) Fire Department volunteers shovel snow off their roof Sunday. AP Photo
Upstate N.Y. digging out after record snow
Monday, February 12, 2007 1:49 PM PST

REDFIELD, N.Y. (AP) - The snow just won't stop.

Intense lake-effect snow squalls that buried communities along eastern Lake Ontario for nine straight days diminished Sunday - then started up again early today.

Unofficially, the squalls have dumped 12 feet, 2 inches of snow at Redfield. If accurate, that would break the state record of 10 feet, 7 inches of snow that fell in nearby Montague over seven days ending Jan. 1, 2002, said Steve McLaughlin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

A weather service representative was being sent to Redfield today to verify the total.

Residents of this hardy upstate New York village seem unfazed. Redfield, whose economy thrives on snowmobilers and cross-country skiers, receives an annual average of 270 inches - more than 22 feet.

“It's snow. We get a lot of it. So what?” said Allan Babcock, a lifelong resident who owns Shar's Country Diner, a popular eatery in this village of 650 people.

However, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has declared a state disaster emergency in Oswego County. The county's community of Parish had recorded 115 inches by early Sunday. Mexico had 103 inches, North Osceola had 99 and Scriba 94. The city of Oswego had 85 inches.

The persistent snow bands that have wracked the county for a week were expected to finally end later today.

However, the forecaster noted that a coastal winter storm expected midweek could bring another 6 to 12 inches to areas of upstate New York.

As the bands shifted north into Jefferson County most of Sunday, residents continued recovering from the heavy snow. Roads were mostly cleared as workers turned their attention to removing the snow and trimming down 10- and 12-foot-high snow banks that continued to make driving dangerous.

“In all my life, I mean my entire life combined, I've never seen this much snow at once,” said Jim Bevridge, 47, of Timmonium, Md., who drove up for a long weekend of snowmobiling.


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