Western New York to get blasted by first significant multiday lake-effect snowstorm of season

Lake-Effect Snow Warnings have been issued along the eastern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario as the region braces for the first significant multiday lake-effect snowstorm of the season that will kick into high gear starting Monday.

The gloomy winter weather comes on the heels of a powerful storm that brought several inches of snow from the Plains states to the Great Lakes region and slowed travel over the Thanksgiving weekend, leaving at least three people dead as a result.

The FOX Forecast Center says cold air being pulled in from Canada will flow over the unfrozen and still relatively warm Great Lakes, resulting in lake-effect snow that will likely last until at least Wednesday.

That places parts of western New York and the Erie, Pennsylvania, area at risk of seeing well over a foot of snow.

Areas from Erie to around Ellicottville, New York, have the highest likelihood of seeing 12-18 inches of snow through Wednesday, depending on where the heaviest snow bands set up.

Significant snow totals are also expected south of Watertown and north of Syracuse in central New York. Some locations near Richland, New York, could see snow totaling up to 2 feet.

The FOX Forecast Center expects the heavy snow to stay south of Buffalo and Watertown due to a predominantly west-to-northwest wind.

A west-southwest wind is the most favorable wind direction to send the heavy snow into those cities, and the FOX Forecast Center doesn’t expect that to occur at this time.

Back to the west, parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula could see heavy lake-effect snow on Monday and Monday night off of Lake Superior.

Because of this, the National Weather Service issued Winter Storm Warnings that go into effect Sunday evening and last through Tuesday morning.

With Lake-Effect Snow Warnings and Winter Storm Watches in effect, travel is expected to be extremely difficult in those regions once the winter weather arrives.

The National Weather Service said the heavy snow will fall in narrow bands, and anyone traveling in areas where they set up should be prepared for rapidly changing road conditions and reduced visibilities.