Newsweek

Map Shows States Bracing for Lake-Effect Snowstorm

N.Nguyen3 months ago

Four states are bracing for a lake-effect storm that could dump more than a foot of snow in some areas.

Winter weather has arrived early for several states bordering the Great Lakes, as they prepare for the storm. The Weather Channel published a time-lapse map on Monday morning showing the potential jolt to New York, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"The first significant lake-effect snow of the season is setting up across the northern and eastern Great Lakes, with potential impacts on western New York," The Weather Channel posted on X, formerly Twitter .

An excavator piles up snow on the east side of Buffalo, New York, on December 29, 2022. Dozens of people were killed by the storm. Incoming lake-effect snow could drop more than a foot in the upstate New York city through Wednesday.

The map showed that through Wednesday, some areas could face more than a foot of snow. The highest amounts are predicted in New York and Pennsylvania. Erie, Pennsylvania, and Buffalo, New York, are forecast to receive up to 12 inches, as Syracuse, New York, could see more than a foot.

Cleveland, Ohio, might get up to an inch of snow through Wednesday, with Grand Rapids, Michigan, forecast to receive up to 3 inches and Traverse City, Michigan, up to 5 inches.

Winds up to 40 mph could accompany the snowfall.

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told Newsweek that snow is already falling in northern Michigan and the eastern Great Lakes, adding that the most impacted highways will be Interstate 90 near Buffalo and Interstate 81 near Syracuse.

"Those areas that get hardest hit, they're going to be measuring it in feet and not inches," Kines said.

The snowfall will begin to slow by Tuesday night, but Kines said it's possible the interstates could be shut down throughout the storm.

"When you get into these lake-effect snow bands, the snowplows can't keep up with the snow," Kines said.

He advised motorists to stay off the roads during the storm, but if travel was necessary, they should bring extra-warm clothing, flashlights, water and a snow shovel in case they get stuck.

Lake-effect snow is a common occurrence across the Great Lakes region, arriving when cold air—typically from Canada—moves across the warm waters of the lakes, prompting air to rise and form clouds that unleash several inches of snow per hour.

The incoming storm is ominous for areas like Buffalo, which faced devastating and fatal snowstorms last winter. A bomb cyclone hit the city just days before Christmas, killing at least 26 people in the city and prompting calls for the resignation of Mayor Byron Brown. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz called the city's response "embarrassing" at the time.