I heard about Buffalo...how did Rochester do?
I went to school in Rochester in the '70's, and the winter of '77, I wrecked my car because some lady backed out of her driveway because she couldn't see me because the snow was so deep! Up along Lake Ontario that year, houses had snow up to the eves!
I think Rochester was totally spared, but here in Buffalo we got wacked hard. Very hard. Lake-effect blizzards can be VERY defined and specific with narrow bands of snow. Last week, I got 2 feet of heavy, wet snow dumped overnight on trees that still had their foliage. Branches and entire trees, hell even the utility poles snapped like toothpicks all night, destroying the electrical infrastructure throughout the entire area. I just got the power back on - it's been out since last Thursday. I've been running a generator all week, powering up my house and 5 others at times (sump pumps, cycle the refrigerators, etc). My parents basement flooded, so I take the generator over every day to pump out but by the next day its flooded again. I run the chainsaw and clear the branches & trees all day, getting crap off roofs & cars. Tonight, I have power, but still no sleep; I get to drop the wife off at the hospital (nurse~extra 3rd shift duty) at 2:00am, swing by my parents and refill the generator, crash for a couple of hours, swing back to refill again on my way to pick her up at 8:00am. I have a water powered sump pump coming in for them this Wednesday (hopefully!!). I bribed a friend that is coming in town from Lancaster, PA to buy one and bring it with - they're completly sold out locally. Then I'll be able to stop the genset and focus on the cleanup. There's no end in sight yet. I've been going about 20 hours a day since it started, and I'm really, really tired.