The highest snow accumulations are expected east of Lake Ontario, where some isolated areas could get up to 60 inches of lake effect snow early in the week.
An Arctic blast has brought snow, frost and dangerously cold winds to the northern Plains, the Midwest and the Great Lakes, creating “very difficult to impossible” travel conditions on one of the busiest days of the year, as millions of people head home from their Thanksgiving destinations.
About 7 million people are under winter alerts across Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, with some alerts expected to continue into Tuesday morning.
A National Weather Service advisory warned Sunday that travel-thwarting lake effect snow bands and showers had developed downwind of the Great Lakes in northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania and western New York and parts of northwest New York.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency in multiple counties Friday, including Erie, Oswego and Allegany. Lake effect snow will continue falling in western and north New York through Monday, where residents can expect 1 to 4 inches per hour, according to Hochul’s office.
Hochul warned New Yorkers to avoid unnecessary travel. More than 100 National Guard troops were staged in western New York “to support local communities,” she said in a statement.
Interstate 90 in western New York reopened to passenger vehicles Saturday afternoon after it was closed Friday, Hochul announced, adding that commercial trucks were still banned in both directions along the westernmost part of the interstate starting at Exit 46. An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow are possible in western New York, with the heaviest accumulations affecting Chautauqua and south-central Erie counties.
The highest accumulations are expected east of Lake Ontario, where some isolated areas could get up to 60 inches of lake effect snow by early in the week around the Watertown, New York, area, the NWS said. The Tug Hill Plateau will be hit especially hard, with an additional 1 to 3 feet of snow expected through Tuesday morning.
In metropolitan Buffalo–Niagara Falls, Orchard Park could get 8 to 20 inches of snow before Tuesday morning. The weather service office in Cheektowaga, New York, which covers Buffalo, said Saturday that bands of lake effect snow would be active in the Southtowns of Buffalo overnight, with 2 feet of snow and “extremely hazardous travel” possible.
Lake effect snow is forecast to begin affecting central New York and parts of the Mohawk Valley area Sunday into Monday, according to Hochul’s office. Snow accumulations could reach 10 inches in central New York, while the Mohawk Valley region could get up to 5 inches.
Erie, Pennsylvania, has recorded 30 inches of snow, the most so far, according to the agency. Federal forecasters said as much as 6 feet of snow could cake the ground in northern Erie County by Tuesday. An additional 10 to 20 inches of snow can be expected in the city.
The weather service office in Cleveland said Saturday that more than a foot of lake effect snow was possible in parts of the region starting at noon Sunday and continuing through 7 a.m. Tuesday, affecting travel between Cleveland and Buffalo.
An additional 2 to 10 inches of snow will be possible through Monday, affecting cities like Traverse City, Marquette and Ironwood in Michigan and Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
Parts of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia remained under winter alerts Sunday morning as scattered snow showers persisted, according to the weather service. Charleston and Jackson, Kentucky, were included in these alerts through the afternoon, with 1 to 2 more inches of snow possible.
Freeze alerts are in effect for around 2 million people through Sunday night for parts of southeast Georgia and north Florida, including Lake City and Gainesville, Florida, where overnight lows will dip into the upper 20s and the low 30s.
Temperatures from the northern Plains through the Midwest and the East Coast will remain 10 to 20 degrees below average Sunday afternoon. Highs in the Dakotas will reach single digits, while the Midwest will stay in the 20s and the 30s. In the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, highs will range from the 30s to the 40s.
Temperatures across the Central and Eastern U.S. will generally stay at or below freezing through the week.
Earlier in November, the Transportation Security Administration projected that Sunday would be one of the three busiest travel days of the year.
More than 17 million people were under National Weather Service winter alerts Saturday — 3.6 million under lake effect snow warnings, 4.5 million under freeze warnings, 8.5 million under winter weather advisories and 1 million under frost advisories.
The weather service says lake effect snow is produced when a cold air mass moves south from Canada and beyond over the comparatively warm Great Lakes, pulling some of the lake water quickly into the atmosphere, forming fertile clouds and generating snow at a rate of 2 to 3 inches or more each hour.
