Millions of Americans were under freeze warnings on Saturday as an Arctic blast swept across the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern Plains.
3.6 million people were under lake-effect snow warnings, 4.5 million were under freeze warnings, 8.5 million were under winter weather advisories, and 1 million were under frost advisories on Saturday, when more than 17 million people were under National Weather Service winter alerts.
The Great Lakes, the Central Plains, and the Appalachians were among the regions affected; the Southeast was the subject of many of those freeze warnings.
The lowest temperatures since last winter are being delivered by the Arctic airmass, the National Weather Service warned. On Saturday morning, wind chills are predicted to drop below zero throughout the upper Midwest and northern Plains. The EPA warned that wind chills might drop as low as minus 30 to 40 degrees in some areas of North Dakota.
Downwind of the Great Lakes, the freezing airmass was also contributing to the production of significant and impeding travel lake-effect snow in western New York, northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania, and parts of northwest New York, according to federal forecasters.
According to the NWS, the greatest snow accumulations are anticipated east of Lake Ontario, where by early next week, isolated locations around the Watertown, New York, area may receive up to 60 inches of lake-effect snow.
According to the weather service, a cold airmass that flows south from Canada and beyond across the relatively warm Great Lakes swiftly draws part of the lake water into the atmosphere, creating fertile clouds that produce 2 to 3 inches of snow or more every hour. This process is known as “lake-effect snow.”
The meteorological service reported 4 to 7 inches of snow depth around the city, but Watertown International Airport recorded just a quarter of an inch of precipitation for the day late Saturday. The Buffalo weather service warned that more severe snow was still possible.
“Chance of precipitation is 100%,” the extended forecast for Watertown stated on Saturday. “Total nighttime snow accumulation of 15 to 21 inches possible.”
Isolated power outages, blowing and drifting snow, and near-whiteout conditions will significantly impair visibility due to wind gusts.
New Yorkers were cautioned by Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday to refrain from needless travel. In Western New York, more than 100 National Guard soldiers were stationed “to support local communities,” according to a statement from Hochul.
“Please heed travel advisories and look out for one another,” she stated.
In response to its snow-driven closure in neighboring Pennsylvania on Friday, Hochul said Saturday afternoon that Interstate 90 in western New York was once again available to passenger traffic.
On social networking site X, she stated that commercial trucks were still prohibited in both directions along the westernmost section of the freeway beginning at Exit 46.
The governor had proclaimed a state of emergency for a number of counties, including Oswego and Erie, a day earlier. There will occasionally be blinding snowfall rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour, along with the possibility of thundersnow, an uncommon meteorological phenomenon that mixes a snowstorm with lightning and thunder, making travel dangerous.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, urged citizens to report any instances of price gouging during the arctic epidemic and reminded shops that it is illegal for them to charge exorbitant costs for necessities during emergencies.
She added in a statement on Saturday that “New Yorkers should be able to get the supplies they need to stay safe without businesses jacking up prices as they face heavy snow and dangerous conditions during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.”
According to the NWS, portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York have already had more than 20 inches of snow fall along the beaches of Lake Erie on Friday night. Roads in Ashtabula, Ohio, were difficult for drivers to utilize due to the snow, according to footage taken Saturday morning.
According to the agency, Erie, Pennsylvania, received 30 inches of snow, the most so far. By Tuesday, up to six feet of snow could cover the ground in northern Pennsylvania’s Erie County, according to federal forecasters.
Nearly 40 flights were affected by a power outage in Terminal D at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday night, but none were canceled. On Saturday afternoon, the terminal’s power was restored.
Utility tracker PowerOutage.us reports that over 8,400 customers in Pennsylvania and New York state were without power as of late Saturday.
Additionally, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed a proclamation of disaster on Saturday, which, according to a statement from his office, will enable anyone impacted by the lake-effect snow to promptly access response and recovery money.
He said that about a dozen men of the Pennsylvania National Guard were deployed to help the Erie County Emergency Operations Center move abandoned, damaged, or otherwise crippled automobiles and rescue stranded drivers.
Cleveland’s weather service office warned on Saturday that starting at noon on Sunday and lasting until 7 a.m. on Tuesday, more than a foot of lake-effect snow could fall in some areas of the area. It stated that beginning Sunday morning, several lake-effect snow bands—concentrations of snow that are sometimes linked to a sweeping storm front and transported by wind—were anticipated over Northeast Ohio, including Cleveland.
Post-Thanksgiving travel plans have been hampered by more road problems, particularly along Interstate 90 between Cleveland and Buffalo. Videos posted on social media on Friday showed motorists caught in rear-end traffic during a snowfall on the freeway.
Travel between Cleveland and Buffalo will continue to be impacted by storm totals of up to three to six feet through Monday.
Christopher P. Scanlon, the mayor of Buffalo, declared that the city was prepared for the snowfall.
At a press conference on Saturday, he stated, “I can tell you that the city of Buffalo is prepared for the weather that’s coming in, not just today, but for days and weeks leading up to this.”
For individuals who might want warmth and refuge, the city opened three warming centers that are currently open twenty-four hours a day, he said.
Travel “could be very difficult to impossible” in areas downwind of the Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service.
Because Highmark Stadium is located in Orchard Park, a town that is expected to receive between 12 and 18 inches of snow, with higher amounts likely, the Sunday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills may be buried beneath snow.
The Buffalo Bills invited their ardent supporters, known as the Bills Mafia, to sign up to shovel snow at the stadium on X on Friday.
Bands of lake-effect snow will be active in Buffalo’s Southtowns tonight, with two feet of snow and “extremely hazardous travel” possible, according to the weather service office over Buffalo, located in Cheektowaga, New York, on Saturday.
At a press conference, New York-based Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz stated that the central and southern regions of the region will probably be the most severely affected, with the majority of the snowfall falling on Saturday and Sunday. According to Poloncarz, the southern part of the county may receive more than three feet of snow, while the middle parts may receive two to three feet.
As the effects of the Arctic airmass spread to the sunbelt, inhabitants of the South, which stretches from Texas to the Carolinas, awoke to freeze watches and warnings on Friday.
Early next week, the strong lake-effect snowstorm that is engulfing regions downwind of the Great Lakes is predicted to subside. However, meteorologists cautioned that an Arctic air mass was overflowing south out of Canada and that colder air was still on its way south.
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