It's hard to visualize what a difference 4 feet of snow can make in a landscape when you're not there to see it with your own eyes. That's why Buffalo News photographers returned, six months after 2014's epic November snowstorm, to the scenes of some of their most memorable images, and recreated them.
Before: Mike Lackie walks through snow on his unplowed street on Barbados Drive in Cheektowaga on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
After: The scene on six months later in Cheektowaga on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, where Mike Lackie walked through snow on his unplowed street on Barbados Drive.
Before: Digging out in Depew on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
Before: Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park is buried in snow, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
Before: Southwestern Boulevard in Orchard Park, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.Â
After: An aerial photograph of Lowe's and Tops on Route 20 in Orchard Park on Saturday, April 25, 2015.Â
Before: Crews continue work to free motorists stranded on the New York State Thruway near Ridge Road, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.Â
After: An aerial photograph of the I-90 near the Ridge Road bridge on Saturday, April 25, 2015.Â
Before: The Lackawanna toll booths on the New York State Thruway, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
After: An aerial photograph of the I-90 at the toll barrier near Blasdell on Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Before: Lancaster was one of the hardest-hit areas during Winter Storm Knife. Photo taken during continuing cleanup, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. A resident snow plows his driveway on Pardee.
After: Pardee Avenue in Lancaster, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: After two days of continual dumping at the Central Terminal in Buffalo, there is a mountain of snow that is getting larger by the hour. Trucks continue to file in, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.Â
Before: After two days of continual dumping at the Central Terminal in Buffalo, there is a mountain of snow that is getting larger by the hour. Bulldozers push the snow higher and higher to make more room for new snow., Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.Â
After: The clear view from the observation deck at City Hall, Thursday, May 14, 2015.Â
Before: A Doritos delivery truck was reportedly ransacked after it became stranded on Seneca Street in South Buffalo, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014.Â
After: The view down Seneca Street in South Buffalo, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Before: Cheryl Martin walks down Hayden Street in South Buffalo, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014.Â
After: The view down Hayden Street in South Buffalo, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: Deep snow drifts over a home on Mary Lou Lane in Depew, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.Â
After: The Thruway, Thursday, May 14, 2015.Â
Before: Motorists and pedestrians face white-out conditions on Dingens Street, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.
After: Dingens Street, Thursday, May 14, 2015.
After: Willowlawn Parkway, Thursday, May 14, 2015.
After: The scene six months later at Frosty's on Broadway Avenue, Tuesday, May 12, 2015.
Before: A Hy-View volunteer fireman gets a elderly resident out of her home after her furnace quit on Losson Road in Cheektowaga, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.Â
Before: Pedestrians walk down Central Avenue in Lancaster, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
Before: Dan Galinski shovels out on Hillpine Road in Cheektowaga, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
After: The scene six months later in Cheektowaga.
Before: Snow on Washington Street in Lancaster, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
After: The scene six months later on Washington Street in Lancaster on Tuesday, May 12, 2015.
Before: A man tries to clear snow with his snowblower on Cayuga Creek Road in Cheektowaga on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014.
After: The scene on Cayuga Creek Road in Cheektowaga on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: Main Street in East Aurora was full of snow and no shoppers today on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.Â
After: Main Street in East Aurora on Sunday, May 17, 2015.Â
Before: Looking south on Transit Road, which is a four-lane major roadway, near the Lancaster-Elma border on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.
After: Transit Road on Tuesday, May 12, 2015.Â
After: Sebring Drive in Depew on Friday, May 15, 2015.Â
Before: Jim Bammel sticks an American flag in the snowbank in front of his house a signal to the person who plows his driveway at his home on Jewett Holmwood in Orchard Park, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.Â
After: Jim Bammel stands with his flag in front of his house in Orchard Park, Thursday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: Tre Henry, left, and his brother Chris, right, shovel the heavy falling snow at their home in Orchard Park, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.Â
After: Brothers Tre, left, and Chris Henry, right, at in front of their home in Orchard Park, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: The weight of the snow splits a tree at a home on Sunset Terrace in Orchard Park, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.Â
After: Home with the broken tree branch on Sunset Terrace in Orchard Park, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: Cars pass through the intersection of Buffalo at Jewett Holmwood Road in Orchard Park, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.Â
After: The intersection of Jewett Holmwood and Buffalo Road in Orchard Park, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Before: Mitchell Robinson cross-country skis on Crescent Street in Orchard Park, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.
After: Mitchell Robinson photographed where he was cross-country skiing near his home in Orchard Park, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: A stranded truck on Armor Duells Road in Orchard Park, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.
After: Section of Armor Duells Road by the Route 219 entrance ramp, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: A burned-out car on Armor Duells in Orchard Park, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.
After: Section of Armor Duells Road where a burned-out car was photographed, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.Â
Before: Chris Swanson looks for help digging out at his home on Route 62/75 in Hamburg, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.Â
Before: A snow-filled empty Ralph Wilson Stadium on Friday, Nov. 21, 2014. The Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets game had to be moved due to Detroit due to the heavy snow in Western New York.
After: A sunny day from the upper deck at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
Before: A snowmobiler makes his way down Abbott Road in front of Ralph Wilson Stadium, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.Â
After: A view of Ralph Wilson Stadium and Abbott Road on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
After: A truck waits on the off-ramp of Route 219 waiting to turn on Boston State Road on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
After: An empty driveway on Thursday, May 14, 2015 that had a buried car and driveway with snow.
Every Western New Yorker has a story from the back-to-back lake-effect snowstorms of November 2014 that killed 13, knocked out power to thousa…
