3 to 4 feet of snow could fall near Buffalo Bills stadium before Sunday’s game

Orchard Park, N.Y. — As much as 4 feet of snow could fall before Sunday night’s Buffalo Bills game, making travel for fans extreme and difficult, according to a National Weather Service meteorologist.

As of midday Friday, it was still too soon to tell what the weather will be for the 8:20 p.m. game against the San Francisco 49ers, Phillip Pandolfo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

But lake effect snow bands are expected to drop snow in Western New York south of Buffalo starting today and into Sunday afternoon, forecasts show.

At times, the snow could fall in that area at a rate of 1 to 2 inches an hour, he said.

“They’ll be dealing with quite a lot of clean-up” in and around Highmark Stadium, Pandolfo said on Friday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that snow is forecast to fall steadily all weekend in parts of Western and Northern New York, including before, during and after the Bills game on Sunday.

The hardest hit places will be areas south and east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, which could see several feet of snowfall by Monday.

At times, the snow in the hardest hit areas could fall at rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour, Hochul said.

Overall, 3 to 4 feet of snow are forecast for areas along Lake Erie, especially western Chautauqua and southern Erie Counties, Hochul said.

In Northern New York, 4 to 5 feet of snow is anticipated along eastern Lake Ontario. Watertown could see as much as 6 feet, Hochul said.

Near Buffalo, anyone traveling to the game could be in for difficult and hazardous conditions.

Starting at 3 p.m. Friday, New York will ban some commercial vehicles from three major roads in Wester New York. A Lake Effect Snow Warning was already in place for Orchard Park on Friday morning.

“We are expecting significant to extreme impacts in terms of travel conditions on Saturday across Orchard Park, Hamburg, much of the buffalo South towns,” Pandolfo.

As for snowfall during the game? Too soon to tell, he said.

“Whether or not the lake effect band is going to be directly over Orchard Park as we get into Sunday evening is a little bit uncertain,” he said. “We are expecting it to be moving out by that point, though.”

Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.