Just about everyone who has lived in Buffalo has felt the stinging bite of a blizzard or braced against bands of burying Lake Erie-fed snow.
"Whether we like it or not, we have a reputation for snow," said Maryann Stein, who is among those working to get the idea off the ground. "So why not capitalize on it? Get something back from our weather?"
But why should they have all the fun?
A group of weather enthusiasts is making plans to open an interactive "Weather Experience Center" to showcase not only Buffalo's changeable weather, but the hurricanes, tornadoes and other phenomena that keep people glued to the Weather Channel. Planners envision a museum-quality waterfront building with exhibits that put tourists in the eye of the storm.
On the drawing board are plans for an IMAX virtual reality theater that will let visitors chase tornadoes. Also, a blizzard room with enough snow and wind to give warm-weather visitors a taste of a winter storm — after bundling into hats, coats and gloves at the door.
"It's got to be fun. Weather can be a lot of fun," said Tom Niziol, the meteorologist in charge of the local National Weather Service office and an adviser on the project.
Other exhibits would explain climate change and provide real-time weather data from places in the throes of severe weather.
The glass-walled building would allow visitors to watch lake-effect snow roll in off the water, or look for water spouts amid the whitecaps. Experts on staff would explain the weather as it is happening.
A facilities study is underway that should give the steering committee an idea of what the project will cost, said Craig Turner, chairman of the executive committee. Early estimates are in the $150 million range. Funding will be sought from public, private and corporate sources.
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Buffalo Waterfront Weather Experience Museum Center