The first heavy snowfall of the season threatened to submerge New York's Lake Erie and Lake Ontario towns during a busy weekend of holiday travel and shopping.
Heavy lake-effect snow in the northern part of the state is expected to continue into the weekend in Michigan, according to the National Weather Service in Gaylord.
Up to 3 feet of snow could accumulate in some parts of the Upper Peninsula Sunday night into Monday, National Weather Service meteorologist Lily Chapman said.
As flakes began flying Friday, New York state forecasters warned Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario could see 4 to 6 feet of snow or blowing snow into Monday.
After an unusually mild snowfall, as much as 2 to 3 feet of snow could accumulate along Lake Erie and south of Buffalo from the lake effect zone, which is notorious for hitting the region at snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour. There was.
Lake effect snow occurs when warm, moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold, dry air overhead.
“Lake temperatures are in the 50s,” Erie County Public Works Director William Geary said. ” he said. “The outlook for the next two weeks into December is probably going to be a little bit more.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of disaster emergency for the affected counties, allowing state agencies to mobilize resources.
Rapidly deteriorating conditions on Friday resulted in traffic closures along Interstate 90, and large portions of Interstate 86 and State Route 219 in western New York were closed to tandem vehicles and commercial vehicles starting Friday afternoon. .
“Right now, we have a significant number of vehicles running off the road on Highway 219,” Gregory Butcher, Erie County's deputy director of preparedness and homeland security, said at an afternoon briefing.
Butcher said ATVs and snowmobiles are being deployed around the county to assist first responders as needed.
The Buffalo Bills called for volunteers to shovel snow at Highmark Stadium, where more than two feet of snow could accumulate before Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Last year, a massive lake-effect storm forced the NFL to postpone the Bills' wild-card playoff home game against Pittsburgh from Sunday to Monday.
“The snow is going to slow down, there's no question about that,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, adding that the heaviest snowfall is expected to end by kickoff.
Meanwhile, the team was preparing to play in any situation.
“We're just trying to keep up,” coach Sean McDermott said Friday.
The Bills are 9-2, off to their best start since 1992, and a win on Sunday will clinch their fifth consecutive AFC East title.
Lake-effect snow also blanketed parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and is expected to continue into the weekend.
The area was covered in snow by Friday afternoon, with some places already receiving more than a foot of snow.
“There is a mass of cold air over the UP with westerly winds and a northwesterly flow,” said Chapman of the National Weather Service. “So it's a very good setup for this long-term lake-effect snow event.”
Strong winds are affecting visibility in Michigan, especially near the Great Lakes, and Chapman urged caution on the roads.
Meteorologist Joe DeLizio of the National Weather Service in Gaylord said visibility on the roads was poor, but so far he had not heard of any major accidents.
“We haven't heard much about the problem, but obviously travel is pretty difficult,” Delizio said.
