Lake-Effect Snow Machine to Crank Up Across the Great Lakes Next Week

January 3,2015; 10:45PM,EST

 

 

As a storm system departs the Great Lakes on Sunday afternoon, winds will shift to the west-northwest and develop bands of lake-effect snow.
Cold air and gusty winds will build in over the region early next week and lake-effect snow will develop downwind of the Great Lakes.
The most concentrated snow bands are expected to develop downwind of lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
According to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Evan Duffey, "The orientation of the wind pattern across the Great Lakes will support a Lake Superior to Lake Huron to Lake Ontario connection. This will lead to heavy snow across the Tug Hill Plateau in upstate New York."

The heaviest snowfall will fall across the Tug Hill Plateau in upstate New York, where between 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible. Some localized areas may receive over 2 feet of snow in the most persistent snow bands.
According to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Ben Noll, ""Snowfall rates downwind of Lake Ontario could exceed 3 inches per hour."
Winds across the Great Lakes may gust up to 40 mph causing blowing and drifting snow and white-out conditions.

Travel will be dangerous at times along Interstate 81 from Syracuse, New York, to Watertown, New
York, and Interstate 90 from Buffalo, New York, to Cleveland, Ohio.
"Travel will be dangerous across the Great Lakes. You can go from dry roads to white-out conditions in only a few miles," Noll said.
Weaker bands of snow will develop downwind of Lake Michigan with areas downwind picking up a general 3 to 6 inches, including the towns of Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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According to Noll, the air over the mild lake waters will be very unstable and can produce a few rumbles of thunder, especially along the shore of Lake Ontario.
The snow bands will dissipate early on Tuesday as a clipper system moves over the region and brings a round of snow on Tuesday into Wednesday.
As the clipper system departs, another round of lake-effect snow will develop downwind of the Great Lakes for Wednesday and Thursday.
Story by Accuweather.com Meteorologist Brett Rathbun

On Social Media

Tweets for this articleAccuWeather Updates

SevereChase

severechase

Sporadic mod snow bands erratically developing NE, not a lot of Accum in NEB but winds will make travel treacherous pic.twitter.com/KpO7tYQDZm

2h

NWS Green Bay

NWSGreenBay

553PM: Freezing drizzle near the lake, a new snow band developing to our northwest and headed our way #wiwx pic.twitter.com/tB8xmVI6mb

4h

East Coast Wx Watch

EastCoastWx1

WILD WEATHER AHEAD; FROM WARM TO WICKED COLD. CLIPPER LOW WITH POSSIBLE SNOW TUESDAY/GREAT LAKES SNOW MACHINE TO... fb.me/6YR2zRfVx

2h

Becky Elliott

AccuWxBeck

Impressive lake-effect #snow setup for Sun/Mon. Multiple lake connection band on 4km NAM. accuweather.com/en/weather-new… pic.twitter.com/MOi3NI1OEA

10h