In the days leading up to March fourteenth and fifteenth, New York, along with much of New England, was expected to receive devastating effects from Winter Storm Stella.  Alden, initially, was expected to receive almost two feet of snow, but those predictions quickly dropped to under a foot.  New York City, however, was expected to receive the brunt of the storm.  The storm was enough of a threat to prompt New York governor Andrew Cuomo to place the entire state in a State of Emergency.  This allowed for easier movement of equipment to clear the snow, if it would be needed, but it cause schools all over the state to close.  Alden Schools closed for two days due to the storm and State of Emergency.

Alden only received about a foot of snow, but the wind that came with the storm made clearing the roads a challenge nonetheless.  Community members recognized that if New York City had actually received as much snow as was predicted, the city would have probably taken precedence over places like Alden, so they were grateful that local roads did get cleared.

Much of the Western New York community did feel, however, that the precautions taken against the storm were overreactions because Buffalo is used to strong snow storms.  In 2014, Western New York was able to recover very quickly from the surprise November Storm, so the general reaction to Winter Storm Stella seemed exaggerated.  Even Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz commented on Buffalo’s strength to snow storms, tweeting “Let’s show some back bone folks.  When did 6″ of snow over 24 hours ever stop Buffalo? Never, so let’s not lose that backbone now.”