first big blizzard New York cities located along Lakes Erie and Ontario are at risk of destruction during the busy holiday travel and shopping weekend.
An outbreak of cold air in the Arctic will spread south and east and bring “dangerously cold winds” to the Northern Plains and upper Midwest. National Weather Service While heavy lake-effect snowfall could make travel “very difficult to impossible” next week, it said.
“Travel this weekend will be extremely difficult and dangerous, especially in areas where several feet of snow could accumulate very quickly,” the National Weather Service said Saturday.
CBS New York meteorologist John Elliott said “very intense snowfall” will impact communities in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions.
Cara Anna/AP
A cold weather advisory was issued for parts of North Dakota on Saturday, and high pressure from central Canada will move south toward the Northern Plains by Monday. A freeze warning will be issued from the central Gulf Coast states into the Southeast, the weather service said.
Part of Interstate 90 in Pennsylvania was closed Saturday, as well as the westbound lanes of the New York Thruway heading into Pennsylvania. Nearly two feet of snow has already fallen in parts of New York, Ohio and Michigan, and the northwestern tip of Pennsylvania has recorded nearly 29 inches of snow.
Roads in parts of northwestern Pennsylvania became so impassable Saturday morning that many people took shelter overnight in the lobbies and hallways of a fully booked Holiday Inn hotel near I-90. Jeremiah Weatherly, a hotel employee, said that after dozens of people fell in due to the accumulation of snow, staff opened the hotel conference room and gave people blankets so they could sleep on the floor.
“It was difficult to manage but we had no option,” he said. “They just came in and we don't want to turn people away.”
Light to moderate snowfall is expected from the central Mississippi Valley to the central Appalachians on Saturday, with similar snowfall across the northern Plains and parts of the upper Mississippi Valley and central Appalachians on Sunday, the weather service said.
In Michigan, heavy lake-effect snowfall is expected to continue through the weekend in northern parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service in Gaylord. National Weather Service meteorologist Lily Chapman said some areas of the Upper Peninsula could get up to 3 feet of snow Sunday night into Monday.
New York state forecasters warned that up to 4 to 6 feet of blowing and drifting snow could fall in Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario by Monday.
National Weather Service
After an unusually light fall, snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 feet were possible from the Lake Erie Band south of Lake Erie and Buffalo, notorious for snowfall in the area with snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour. Lake-effect snowfall occurs when warm moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold dry air above.
“The lake is at 50 degrees. We're about six degrees above where we should be this time of year, which is why we're seeing these heavy lake-effect events,” said Erie County Public Works Commissioner William Geary. Are.” “Looking forward to the next two weeks in December, we'll probably see a little more.”
Cara Anna/AP
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency for the targeted counties, allowing state agencies to mobilize resources. Rapidly deteriorating conditions led to the closure of Interstate 90 Friday and a ban on tandem and commercial vehicles along much of Interstate 86 and U.S. Route 219 in western New York beginning Friday afternoon.
“There are currently a significant number of vehicles off the road on 219,” Gregory Butcher, Erie County's deputy director for preparedness and homeland security, said at an afternoon briefing.
Butcher said ATVs and snowmobiles are being deployed around the county to help first responders if necessary.
The Buffalo Bills called on volunteers to potentially clear snow at Highmark Stadium, where more than 2 feet of snow was possible, before Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
“It's going slow, there's no doubt about that,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. He said the heaviest snowfall is expected to be over by kickoff.
Lake-effect snow has also covered parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is expected to last through the weekend. By Friday afternoon the area was covered in snow, with some places already having more than a foot of snow.
“We've got this westerly, northwesterly flow system and this cold air over the UP,” said Chapman of the National Weather Service. “So it's a really good setup for this long-term lake-effect snowfall event.”
High winds have affected visibility in Michigan, especially near the Great Lakes, and Chapman urged caution on the roads.
Joe Delizio, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said visibility on the roads was low but he was not made aware of any major accidents so far.
“Haven't heard much about problems, but obviously the travel is quite difficult,” Delizio said.