By Mustafa Caglayan
NEW YORK
At least eight people were killed Wednesday and Thursday after a massive snowstorm battered upstate New York in a blizzard described as "historic."
More than 65 inches (165 centimeters) of snow was recorded in the city of Buffalo in the last 24 hours, just 10 inches short of the national record that fell in Silver Lake, Colorado, in 1921.
"This is a historic event. When all is said and done, this snowstorm will break all sorts of records, and that's saying something in Buffalo," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a visit to the city Wednesday.
According to the National Weather Service, a year's worth of snow is expected in the span of a few days in the hardest hit areas.
Buffalo is expected to get a total of 84 inches by the end of the week, a city where the average annual snowfall is 94 inches.
More than 200 National Guard soldiers have been deployed to assist recovery efforts in Buffalo and other affected areas of Erie County .
A brutal blast of Arctic air triggered a lake-effect storm and snow in the states of New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The National Weather Service warns that some areas could see also experience six feet of snow before this weather pattern is finished.
The country awoke Tuesday to its coldest November morning since 1976 along with more than 50 percent of the continental U.S. covered with snow.
It was the greatest covered area in the U.S. this early in the season since 2003, when countrywide snow cover records began.
On the same day in 2013, only 12 percent of the country had snow.
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