buffalo new york – A prolonged lake-effect snowstorm continues to batter the Great Lakes region after 3 to 5 feet of snow fell on cities from Michigan to New York as people try to get home after a busy Thanksgiving weekend. became paralyzed.
This is the first significant lake-effect snowfall of the season, making snow totals in many communities truly staggering.
The heaviest snowfall so far has been in cities and towns downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, from northwestern Pennsylvania to western and northern New York.
Parts of Ohio are also affected, where forecasters say more winter weather is expected before the cold air finally begins to ease Tuesday.
The effects of historic lake-effect snowstorms are widespread. Not only the amount of snowfall, but also the intense rate of snowfall, which reached up to 4 inches per hour, overwhelmed crews who were working relentlessly. The watch clears snow and ice from roads and highways like busy Interstate 90 from New York to Ohio.
Interstate 90 was closed on that busy stretch due to dangerous winter weather that affected travel in the area.
But thanks to the hard work of Department of Transportation officials across the region, Interstate 90 reopened to passenger traffic in parts of New York for the first time late Saturday, and the freeway reopened to passenger and commercial vehicles early Monday morning. Both roads have been fully reopened to traffic.
Travel is expected to remain hazardous in areas still affected by heavy snowfall from the Great Lakes. To keep people safe while out and about on Monday, motorists are being urged to stay off the road if possible, slow down significantly and leave plenty of distance between vehicles.
Dangerous traffic conditions have been reported in recent days, and FOX weather storm tracker Brandon Copic witnessed vehicles struggling to make their way through the falling snow.
“Honestly, it's just a mess here,” Copic said Saturday from Erie, Pennsylvania. “With highways closed, trucks are going down roads they shouldn't be on, which only strands more cars.”
Copic said he spent hours Friday helping people stranded by the extreme weather. Copic also sent drone footage of vehicles stranded on Route 5 in Pennsylvania near the New York border, showing cars and trucks stuck in the snow.
“Trucks jackknifed on the roads are causing traffic jams,” he said.
States of emergency were declared in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and the National Guard was called in to assist with storm response efforts.
Snow wasn't the only topic of conversation over the weekend. The paralyzing lake-effect snowstorm also produced rare thunderstorms and even water fountains off the shores of Lake Erie.
A video shared by Copic showed lightning flashing in the sky amid falling snow in Blasdell, New York, and a loud crack of thunder could be heard in another video shared outside the Buffalo, New York area.
Like thunderstorms, thundersnows require significant atmospheric instability, and areas where this phenomenon occurs can have unusually high snowfall rates.
Winter weather warnings remain in effect across the region, including a lake-effect snow warning from Cleveland to southwest New York, and are expected to remain in effect until at least Tuesday morning.
A winter weather advisory also remains in effect for parts of central New York, including the Syracuse metro, and a wave of lake-effect snow could affect the area through Tuesday afternoon.
