Dry eye relief in Buffalo, New York

In Buffalo, dry eyes are mostly an indoor story. The air outside is damp in winter, but NOAA’s airport records show about 124 nights a year at or below freezing, so furnaces run from fall into April and warmed air turns parched. Moving heat vents off your face, a humidifier, fuller blinking and a lubricating drop used as labeled help with everyday dryness. Pain or vision changes need an eye doctor.

Buffalo’s winter, by NOAA’s numbers

The official Buffalo station sits at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga, about 690 feet above sea level and a few miles inland from Lake Erie. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for that station describe a long, snowy cold season:

• 95.4 inches of snow in a typical year, with January (26.7 inches) and December (25.3 inches) the snowiest months.
• A January normal high of 32.1°F and a low of 19.0°F.
• Close to 49 days a year when the high stays at or below freezing.
• About 124 nights a year at 32°F or colder, and three or four below zero.
• Around 71 days with at least an inch of snow on the ground.
• Measurable precipitation (a tenth of an inch or more) on about 94 days, and 40.7 inches in all.

Those numbers say Buffalo’s heating season is long rather than brutal. Below-zero nights are rare, but cold days stack up from November through March, and every one of them means warmed, dried indoor air.

Lake-effect snow and a damp outdoor sky

The National Weather Service office in Buffalo issues lake-effect snow warnings when cold air crossing the open water of Lake Erie picks up moisture and drops it in narrow, heavy bands. That moisture shows up in NOAA’s humidity table: Buffalo’s January afternoons average 72 percent relative humidity, and December afternoons 71 percent, among the dampest winter readings in the region.

So why do eyes still feel dry? Because damp cold air holds very little water in absolute terms. Once a furnace pulls 19°F air indoors and warms it to 70°F, its relative humidity falls sharply. The snow piled against the house doesn’t help the air in the living room at all. Our guide to winter heating and dry eyes explains the physics in more detail.

Wind off Lake Erie

Buffalo sits at the eastern end of Lake Erie, where the prevailing westerly wind arrives after a long run across open water. Downtown streets near the waterfront, the Outer Harbor and the walk across a big parking lot to a Bills game all put that wind straight into your face. Moving air pulls moisture off the surface of the eye faster than still air, and cold wind makes many people squint and blink less.

• Wraparound sunglasses or goggles cut the wind that reaches your eyes on a snowblower or a long walk.
• A hat brim and a scarf pulled up block some of the gusts on a waiting platform or at a bus stop.
• Turn your back to the wind when you stop moving, then blink fully a few times.
• Watering in the wind is common; wipe tears away from your face with a clean tissue rather than rubbing.

Inside Buffalo homes from November to April

Much of the city’s housing is older, with forced-air furnaces, steam radiators or both. Neither adds water to the air. A few habits do the most good over a long season:

• Point floor and ceiling registers away from the couch, desk and bed.
• Run a humidifier in the bedroom and clean it as its maker directs; our guide on whether a humidifier helps dry eyes covers settings.
• Keep space heaters aimed at your legs, not your face.
• Set the car’s defroster to the windshield and the footwell, not the dashboard vents near your eyes.
• Take a break from screens every 20 minutes, since focus cuts the blink rate.

Using Quell through a Buffalo winter

Quell is an over-the-counter lubricating eye drop. The label’s Uses line reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Its directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. The formula is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which is the problem in a furnace-dried house.

The label gives a storage range: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A bottle left in a glove box during a January cold snap in Cheektowaga can fall well below that, so carry it in an inside coat pocket or a bag that comes indoors with you. The label also says: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. If you wear contact lenses, the label doesn’t cover using it with them, so check with your eye doctor first.

Getting Quell delivered in Buffalo

Quell ships across the US from Brentwood, Tennessee, including to Buffalo, Amherst, Cheektowaga and the rest of Erie County. No delivery date is promised, and lake-effect storms can slow any shipment, so reorder before you’re down to your last bottle. The Buffalo page and the New York page have local details, and checkout needs no account.

When dryness in Buffalo needs a doctor

A drop and a humidifier help with dryness from heated rooms. They aren’t a substitute for an exam when something more is going on, and working out the cause belongs to an eye doctor. The label is plain about when to stop: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. Our list of eye symptoms that need a doctor can help you decide whether to call.