Travel
Snow prompts disaster declaration: Maps show danger from lake-effect snow
Lake-effect snow brings frigid conditions to Northeast and Midwest
Communities near the Great Lakes could see up to four feet of snow this weekend. Intense bands could bring as much as 5 inches per hour.
Over a foot of snow fell in parts of the Northeast over Thanksgiving, and more snow is on the way Saturday and through the rest of the weekend in parts of the Upper Great lakes through the Northeast, forecasters said.
On Saturday, parts of the New York Thruway had been cleared but remained closed while Pennsylvania worked to clear its interstates in the region. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he called in the state’s National Guard to help stranded drivers and signed a disaster declaration in Erie County. He urged people to stay off the roads.
An intense lake effect is forecast to bring bands of snow from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario into the Buffalo, New York, region through the rest of the weekend, causing as much as 1 to 2 feet of additional snow to fall in some places, the weather service there said.
In Buffalo, the weather service warned Saturday that snow could fall at a rate of 1 to 3 inches per hour during the day in the most persistent bands of snow. Travel conditions will be near impossible during those times.
Within the most severe snow bands, conditions can be blizzard-like, and feet of snow can pile up, while just outside the bands, the conditions are much milder, according to AccuWeather. Even if conditions seem safe to drive in near your starting point, there’s no telling what you might drive into during your holiday weekend travel.
“Should a traveler become stranded, the situation can quickly escalate to a life-threatening emergency given the conditions,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
Snow in forecast in several states
Temperatures will be below average across the Northern Plains, according to the National Weather Service, while heavy lake-effect snow will impact Michigan’s upper peninsula and parts of the lower peninsula through Monday. Lake-effect snow coming off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will affect down-wind regions this weekend as well, bringing snow to states including Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.
Light to moderate snow will also fall over parts of the Central Plains and Central Appalachians through Sunday, the weather service said.
The weather service in St. Louis also warned that intense bands of 3 to 5 inches of snow could lead to hazardous road conditions along the I-70/I-64 corridor.
Erie County, Pennsylvania, snow emergency
In Erie County, all public transit was suspended Saturday and libraries were shuttered amid the ongoing lake-effect snow emergency. In addition to Shapiro’s disaster declaration in the county, the city of Erie’s mayor, Joe Schember, declared a snow emergency for the city through the weekend.
Erie International Airport measured 22.6 inches of snowfall on Friday, and forecasters said an additional 42 inches are expected through Tuesday morning, including between 10 and 20 inches on Saturday.
The county also urged residents not to call 911 unless there’s a life-threatening emergency due to high call volume during the storm.
Snow forecast map
The map below shows the probability that an area could receive more than 4 inches of snow. Use the slider at the top left to toggle by day.
Winter weather forecast map: See full version
Weather warnings and watches around the US
National weather radar
Winter storm severity index
What is lake-effect snow?
Lake-effect snow can last anywhere from a few minutes to days on end. It typically happens in the fall and early winter, before the lakes freeze, and is common in the Great Lakes region, according to the National Weather Service.
Lake-effect snow happens when cold air, which commonly comes from the direction of Canada, passes over warmer water, causing warmth and moisture to transfer into the lowest part of the atmosphere. When the air rises, clouds form and create a narrow band, which produces lake-effect snow. It can drop about 2 to 3 inches of snow per hour while it lasts.
Contributing: Erie Times-News
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