As millions of people return home from their Thanksgiving travels, an Arctic blast delivered snow, frost, and dangerously cold winds to the Great Lakes, the Midwest, and the northern Plains, making travel extremely difficult or impossible on one of the busiest days of the year.
A collision between the south-moving arctic blast and relatively warm lake water has caused some 3 million individuals in sections of New York state, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to be under caution for lake effect snow showers, out of the approximately 9 million people nationwide who are under winter alerts.
Winter weather advisories and storm warnings are in effect for nearly 2.3 million people in areas of West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York state. The advisories add that blizzard conditions, heavy snow, and ice are almost inevitable. According to the advisories, snow is expected to accumulate quickly, freeze, and blow.
The lake effect that prevents travel. On Sunday, snow bands formed again downwind of the Great Lakes across western New York, parts of northwest New York, northeast Ohio, and far northwest Pennsylvania, creating new accumulations and burying some areas under feet of snow.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service reported an accumulated-snow reading of about 46 inches at a point along the Black River in Jefferson County, New York. According to the data, Silver Creek in Chautauqua County had 32 inches of snow accumulation. According to the meteorological service, a spot in Calcium, a small village in northern New York east of Lake Ontario, saw approximately one foot of rain on Sunday alone.
On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul proclaimed a state of emergency in several counties, including Allegany, Oswego, and Erie. According to Hochul’s administration, people in western and northern New York can anticipate 1 to 4 inches of lake effect snow every hour until Monday.
Hochul cautioned New Yorkers against needless travel. In order to assist local communities, over 100 National Guard personnel were stationed in western New York, she stated in a statement.
Hochul said that western New York’s Interstate 90 was reopened to traffic Saturday afternoon after being closed on Friday.
Despite the fact that the area was under a lake effect snow warning until Tuesday night, Holul said on Sunday night that the prohibition on buses, commercial trucks, and tractor-trailer trucks will stop at two in the morning ET.
The highest snow 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.
Before Tuesday morning, Orchard Park in the Buffalo Niagara Falls metropolitan area may receive 8 to 20 inches of snow. 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.
Sunday Night Football on NBC saw the Buffalo Bills beat the San Francisco 49s 35-10 to win the NFL’s AFC East championship as snow fell at the Bills’ home venue, Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
Local fansshoveledabout 2 feet of snowthat had buried seats and aisles ahead of the matchup. After the game, Bills quarterback Josh Allen and coach Sean McDermott made show angels on the field to celebrate the team’s win.
Lake effect snow was 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.
Brenton Davis, executive for Eerie County, Pennsylvania, said at a news conference Sunday that private contractors have been hired to clear snow across the region. The county is recommending that schools remain closed Monday and Tuesday, he said.
National Guard troops have been enlisted to transport those who need the rides to warming centers in the county, Davis said.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Michael Carroll urged people in the region to stay off the roads. “Give us today and tomorrow to restore order to the to the transportation network,” he said at the news conference.
The weather service office in Cleveland said as much as 18 inches of lake effect snow was possible from the city to the Pennsylvania-New York state border on Sunday, which could affect travel throughout the snowbelt, the region southeast of Lake Erie.
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 warnings and watches and frost advisories were in effect for more than 4 million people through Sunday night for southern parts of Georgia and northern sections of Florida. In Lake City and Gainesville, Florida, overnight lows will dip into the upper 20s and the low 30s.
The warnings state an extended period of subfreezing temperatures are likely, the watches state such temperatures are possible in the next day or so, and frost advisories warn that vegetation could be threatened by cold temperatures.
The arctic blast also lowered temperatures Sunday from the northern Plains through the Midwest and the East Coast roughly 10 degrees below average, not accounting for wind chill, according to weather service data. Highs in the Dakotas reached the teens, while much of the Midwest was in the 30s and 40s. Chicago O’Hare International Airport recorded an unofficial high temperature of 28 degrees on Sunday, according to weather service data. In the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, highs reached 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.
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.
Water temperatures on Sunday morning for Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were each 46 degrees, measured at a depth of 30 feet or more, which means surface temperatures were likely warmer, according to the weather service.
The arctic blast’s effects are expected to taper off early in the week, but forecasters warned that colder air was still headed south, with an Arctic air mass spilling south out of Canada.
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