NY bans some commercial vehicles from Thruway, I-86 as heavy lake effect snow looms

Buffalo, N.Y. — Empty and tandem commercial vehicles will be banned from some highways in Western New York as heavy bands of lake effect snow approaches.

The ban will start at 3 p.m. on Friday (today) for empty and tandem commercial vehicles, Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on social media.

The ban includes:

• The New York Thruway (Interstate-90) from the Pennsylvania line to Buffalo (Exit 53)
• Interstate 86 from the Pennsylvania state line to Interstate 390
• U.S. Route 219 from the Pennsylvania line north to the Thruway

The bans come as several inches and feet of snow are possible in Western New York and the Tug Hill plateau, according to the National Weather Service.

Areas south of Buffalo to the Pennsylvania line, and in the communities around Watertown, the winds and colder temperatures could whip up snow from the Great Lakes and deposit so much that travel could become dangerous and impossible, the service says.

Forecasting this system remains difficult, according to the weather service.

That means as of 5 a.m. Friday, the snow fall projected for specific communities included wide ranges. Consider these forecasts for today through early Monday:

• Dunkirk could get 29 to 47 inches
• Jamestown could get 9 to 17 inches
• Pulaski could get 8 to 16 inches
• Lowville could get 11 to 21 inches

And Watertown could get 49 to 64 inches – more than 5 feet of snow by Monday.