BUFFALO, N.Y. –– Four straight days of unprecedented weather have buried Buffalo under nearly 6 feet of snow, effectively shutting down a city known for coping with massive snowdrifts.

The National Weather Service said early Friday that 68½ inches of snow – more than two-thirds of the city's yearly average – have fallen since Monday. In the 24-hour period ending 5 a.m. Friday, a near-record 33.6 inches fell.

A state of emergency was declared for all of Erie County, with heavy snow still falling Friday morning. "Basically, the city is shut down," said Matt Brown, spokesman for Mayor Anthony Masiello. After opening briefly early Friday to allow a flight to land, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport was closed until at least noon.

"I come up here about once a year just to remind myself why I live in Florida," said Jay Patterson of Orlando, who was among travelers stranded at the airport when it closed Thursday.

Driving was banned in Buffalo and several suburbs. Most major roadways, including nearly 75 miles of the New York State Thruway, remained closed. Only essential government, medical and emergency workers were allowed on the roads.

But forecasters said Buffalo was poised for a break from the snow by the end of the day.

"By this afternoon it should be cleanup time and looking in amazement at all the snow that's fallen in the last few days," National Weather Service meteorologist Darin Figurskey said early Friday.

The weather comes on the heels of two mild months of weather in Buffalo. The city received no snow in November, and temperatures were in the 60s in early December.

But that changed on Christmas Eve when the snowfall rumbled into town. Streets in and out of the city were shut down Thursday, and pedestrians were left plodding through chest-high drifts. At least one traffic death was blamed on the storm, that of a 50-year-old woman whose car was struck Wednesday by a pickup truck on an icy suburban street.

Buffalo is accustomed to astonishing amounts of snow from "lake effect" storms, which pick up moisture from Lake Erie. The average winter snow total is 93.5 inches.

But this week's snowfall was huge even by Buffalo standards. Large masses of cold air were siphoning moisture from the lake and dropping it in bands of snow.

City, county and state workers were sent home around midday Thursday, about the same time a storm band passed through downtown, producing a near whiteout.

"We had such a good fall and a great summer. What are you going to do?" asked Joe Jacobbi, working the takeout counter at his pizza parlor. "It came so late in the season that at least spring isn't too far away."

The 33.6 inches of snow that fell into Friday morning was the second highest accumulation for a 24-hour period in Buffalo history. The 25.2 inches that fell from Monday to Tuesday is No. 4 on the record list.

The record of 37.9 inches that fell Dec. 9-10, 1995, is not out of reach for Friday, the weather service said. Between midnight and 6 a.m., 15.5 inches of snow fell.

"It entrenched over us, and it doesn't want to give up," meteorologist Ed Reich said.

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On the Net:

City government: http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us

National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov

© 2001 The Associated Press