CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, N.Y. — Residents in the Southern Tier woke up Tuesday morning to 14 inches of snow. According to Storm Team 2, a Lake Effect Snow Warning affected Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and southern Erie counties.
2 On Your Side took a drive to the Southern Tier. En route, Route 20 had icy patches. Residents are shoveling and snow-blowing their driveways or clearing their vehicles of snow and ice.
As 2 On Your Side's Keelin Berrian drives to the Southern Tier, resident Terri Morrella is in her driveway clearing snow from her Nissan pickup truck. She just dug it out from being covered in snow. She's a born and raised Western New Yorker and says she does not like the snow.
"It's not as bad as last year. We got seven feet out here last year. This is okay, but I don't like it," Morrella says.
When we ask, why not relocate? She says she likes the area and the people.
"There's a lot to do. You have to bear with it. What, we got two months of this? Then we're all good."
The next resident 2 On Your Side came across was Dave. Dave is outside, alone, digging his elderly neighbor's truck out of the snow. Dave is a senior himself.
He says Monday's snowfall isn't much. Every year, counties a part of the snow band are hit harder with snow than parts of Western New York. Dave reminds others about it. It's the reason he believes residents are used to it.
"The snow here isn't bad. We don't get hurricanes, volcanoes, or mudslides; put up with a little snow and deal with it."
However, not only did Dave mention it, but so did others, saying the snow came a little later this year.
"I think we lucked out. It came a little bit late, but we're inevitably going to get it. It is what it is," Dave says.
Last year, Erie counties and surrounding counties faced a November snowstorm and counterattacked by a major blizzard. It kept everyone locked away for days. Other residents who didn't want to speak on record are grateful to have Tuesday's snowfall compared to last year's November snowstorm.