Western New York state braced for a fresh wave of heavy snow after a freakish storm swept off the Great Lakes killing at least eight people and stranding motorists in cars overnight.
The storm paused today and the sun broke through over the city of Buffalo, but snow was expected to resume later, said Deputy Erie County Executive Richard Tobe.
The next snow was forecast to dump another 1m of snow adding to the almost 1.5m that fell yesterday.
The autumn snowstorm has already left accumulations that are remarkable even for the Buffalo area, where heavy snowfalls and frigid winter weather are the norm.
"That's a year's worth of snow," Mr Tobe said, noting a state of emergency remained in effect for the area, where driving was banned on many roads and a 225km stretch of the New York State Thruway along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario was closed.
The storm was all the more unusual in that it inundated some areas while dropping only a couple of inches just a few miles away, according to local media.
It was the coldest November morning across the country since 1976, according to Weather Bell Analytics, a meteorologist consulting firm.
Typically, such cold is not seen until late December through February, the National Weather Service said.
In south Buffalo, which has implemented a driving ban, 18 snow mobiles were being used to respond to emergency medical calls and rescue stranded motorists, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference.
More than 5,000 tons of snow have been removed from the area and 100 vehicles have been towed, Mr Brown said.
Parts of Erie County in western New York had 1.5m of snow with more falling, said Steven Welch, a meteorologist with the NWS near Buffalo.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for ten counties, deploying National Guard troops to help residents cope with the storm.
At least eight deaths were linked to the storm, Erie County Sheriff's Department spokesman John Greenan said.
In one case, a 46-year-old man was found in his car buried under about 4.6m of snow.
In the south of the United States, states were bracing for a record chill from the Arctic-born cold that swept the Rocky Mountains last week.
The snowstorm turned a drive of a few hours into a two-day wintry slog for rock band Interpol, thwarted in its valiant effort to keep its Canada gigs.
The band missed a performance last night in Toronto and cancelled another in Montreal for tomorrow after being caught in the blizzard that trapped the musicians in their bus for more than 40 hours.
Still trapped yo! Haven't really moved in 30 hours and we've been on the bus for nearly 40 hours. Nutso. Never seen anything like it.-DK
— Interpol (@Interpol) November 19, 2014The New York-based group also tweeted pictures of their bus stuck in mounds of snow near Buffalo.
"Dry goods and vodka. We will make it," guitarist Daniel Kessler tweeted along with pictures of the band settling in with their refreshments for a snowed-in night on the bus.
