Fierce autumn storms bury parts of the nation in snow

A bulldozer clears the way for an ambulance in a neighborhood in West Seneca, N.Y.,Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. The Buffalo area found itself buried under as much as 5½ feet of snow Wednesday, with another lake-effect storm expected to bring 2 to 3 more feet by late Thursday.

Mark Settlemyer, left, gets help clearing snow from the roof of his mother's house from Ken Wesley on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in Lancaster, N.Y.

People cross Woodward near the Compuware building through snow on Wednesday.

Emergency vehicles respond to a personal-injury, spin-out accident on the I-94 westbound ramp under East Grand Blvd., near Mt. Elliott, Wednesday afternoon.

An accident on westbound I-696 at Hoover shuts down the freeway in Warren on Wednesday.

Vehicles exit westbound I-696 at Hoover after an accident shuts down the freeway in Warren.

The accident on westbound I-696 at Hoover that shut down the freeway Wednesday afternoon.

The Detroit area got a light dusting compared to other parts of the state.

In Detroit, it was a fine line between snow and no snow. Outstate areas found much more piling up.

For a few hours in Detroit, the snow was heavy.

Lafayette Greens Park in downtown Detroit gets covered in fresh snow on Wednesday.

Jasper Gardner of Ashcraft Landscape installs Christmas lights on trees in Campus Martius Park in Detroit as snow starts to fall on Wednesday.

Samantha Freeman shovels snow off the sidewalk in Public Sqaure Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 in Watertown, N.Y. A ferocious lake-effect storm left the Buffalo area buried under 6 feet of snow Wednesday, trapping people on highways and in homes, and another storm expected to drop 2 to 3 feet more was on its way. (AP Photo/The Watertown Daily Times, Justin Sorensen) SYRACUSE OUT

Autumn leaves blow as Drew Ahmed makes his way through nearly five feet of snow in the Lakeview neighborhood of Buffalo, New York.

A vehicle takes the snow with it along Route 20 after a massive snow fall in Lancaster, N.Y., Wednesday.

Braeden Attig,11, unearths a car in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Paul Lorenzo carves a path in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Snowdrifts create a beautiful setting as a man tries to dig out his driveway in Lancaster, N.Y., Wednesday. A lake-effect snow storm dumped more than 5 feet of snow in areas across western New York. Another two to three feet of snow is expected in the area, bringing snow totals to over 100 inches, almost a year's worth in three days.

Buffalo-area officials are getting help from a neighboring county in their efforts to clear roads and provide emergency services during the snowstorm that has buried sections of western New York in more than 5 feet of snow.

A CSX freight train plows its way in Lancaster, N.Y., on Nov. 19, 2014.

Bob Wilcox clears the snow at the end of his driveway in Lancaster, N.Y. A ferocious storm dumped massive piles of snow on parts of upstate New York, trapping residents in their homes and stranding motorists on roadways, as temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below.

Art Hauret pauses after he measures the nearly 4-foot accumulation of snow in his driveway in Lancaster, N.Y.

Christine Bloom tries to make it to work in Hamburg, N.Y.

Gabriel Ellis throws a snowball as Lukas Schroeder's attention is devoted to his instrument at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., on Nov. 18, 2014.

Grand Valley State University students built a replica of "Olaf," the snowman from the movie "Frozen," on the school's campus.