Photo by M.J. Stafford

Here are some additional storm photos that come from the east of Dunkirk along Route 5. One photo is the tractor-trailer rollover on the Exit 58 ramp at Silver Creek near Routes 5 and 20. Another is a branch being down across Route 5 in the town of Sheridan.

The windstorm was strange in one key respect — gusts came out of the east. The vast majority of storms around here come in from the west, off Lake Erie.

It made for a bizarre scene on the lake: Choppy waters with almost no wave action. The lake flows west to east, and the strong easterlies appeared to cancel out the waves. They were so strong, in fact, that there was a truly unique scene in spots: Ripples of water, not quite waves, blowing from shore to lake.

A lunchtime drive on nearby Route 5, between Silver Creek and Dunkirk, was treacherous. At one point, there was a brief delay as private citizens cleared a tree that completely blocked the road.

Only about a mile down the road, a police officer appeared to be stopping a semi trucker from taking a downhill curve. The officer had his police cruiser blocking the eastbound lane — but then he noticed a wire down in the westbound lane.

Wanting to get off the road and out of the storm, the OBSERVER did not stick around to see what happened next.

Western New York’s most trusted meteorologist, Don Paul, warned in an online column this week that local trees aren’t equipped to handle strong east winds. Their root systems grow to brace them against the usual west winds, he wrote.

Photo by M.J. Stafford