Lake-effect snow to spawn whiteout in Upper Midwest, Northeast

By Alex Sosnowski , AccuWeather senior meteorologist

December 8,2016, 6:45:37PM,EST

 

 Bands of travel-disrupting lake-effect snow from the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast will accompany a blast of much colder air to end the week.

"Because of the shifting nature of the snow bands, we may not be looking at many 2- to 3-foot snowfall amounts," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brian Wimer. "But, many areas near the Great Lakes may receive 3-6 inches of snow with 6-12 inches common in the west and northwest snowbelts."
As of Thursday evening, Perrysburg, New York had already received 17 inches of snow with snowfall rates of nearly 2 inches an hour.
A waterspout was also spotted amid heavy snow by AccuWeather Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer late on Thursday afternoon along the shore of Lake Erie.

As is often the case, conditions will vary tremendously within a short distance.
"In the heaviest snow bands, there will be whiteout conditions," according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams. "However, just a few miles away the sky can be sunny and travel just fine."
RELATED:
AccuWeather Winter Weather Center
Great Lakes region interactive radar
Shoveling snow increases risk for winter heart attacks, experts say
The variable weather conditions can be especially hazardous for those traveling on highways. Motorists moving along at a high speed should expect conditions to change from dry roads with excellent visibility one minute to blizzard conditions the next.
Wind direction is a key player with the position of lake-effect snow. The snow bands will align with the winds. As the winds shift from southwest to west and then northwest, the bands of snow will shift with the wind.
The I-90 corridor will be the most affected from Indiana to Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state. Other major highways where motorists could face highly variable weather conditions include portions of I-75, I-79, I-80, I-81, I-96 and I-196.
In Livingston County, Michigan, a multiple-vehicle crash forced a portion of I-96 to be closed during Thursday morning, according to MDOT. Snow squalls were in the vicinity at the time of the incident.
"Widespread bands of snow will develop off of lakes Superior and Michigan and extend across northern and western Michigan into Friday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis said.
The bands of snow will expand southward off of Lake Michigan from the western part of the lower Michigan Peninsula to northwestern Indiana.

Farther to the east, a band of lake-effect snow, which developed over the towns just south of Buffalo early Thursday morning will continue to shift southward along I-90 in western New York during Thursday night.
Into Friday night, all bands of snow off of lakes Erie and Ontario will shift southward. Snow will extend into ski country region of western New York, as well as northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.
Lake-effect snow will reach Erie, Pennsylvania, and as far to the southwest as Cleveland. Snow from Lake Ontario will shift from the Tug Hill Plateau to central New York state.
"Bursts of snow will extend across central New York state from Syracuse and Rochester to Binghamton during Friday and Friday night," Travis said.
"Into Friday, we expect intermittent snow and a heavier snow squall or two in the central Appalachians as far to the south as West Virginia," Abrams said.
A couple of flurries can extend as far to the east as the I-95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic during Friday.