Lake-effect snow to bury the Great Lakes into this weekend

By Faith Eherts, AccuWeather meteorologist

January 26,2017, 10:56:10AM,EST

 

A return of cold air into the northeastern United States will trigger a significant lake-effect snow event over the next several days.

A storm moving through the Northeast prior to the end of the week will help drag cold air southward from Canada in its wake.
Rain showers will transition to snow showers over parts of the Appalachians and the Ohio Valley into Thursday night.

The colder air will spill in on a brisk northwesterly wind.
This chilly Canadian air moving over the unfrozen Great Lakes will combine to create plenty of lake-effect snow downwind of the lakes.
“Lake-effect snow occurs when cold air much colder than the surface waters of the Great Lakes blows over the warmer lake waters,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Kyle Elliott.
As long as winds persist from the west or northwest, so will the lake-effect snow machine; in this case it looks to be through the end of the weekend.

“A narrow but high-intensity lake-effect snow band can develop and dump feet of snow in locations where it persists for hours, or even days, on end,” said Elliott.
Both the extensive time frame and intensity of this event will result in up to 4 feet of snow in some areas, particularly in parts of southeastern Ontario, Michigan, northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York.
“From Thursday through Monday, some residents downwind of Lake Ontario may be measuring snowfall in yards, instead of feet,” said Elliott.
Much of the affected area will accumulate upwards of a foot of snow by Sunday evening.

Even those outside the heaviest snow bands will find shoveling futile before Monday evening.
“While the heaviest snowfall is expected to occur from Friday night through Sunday morning, more scattered but still locally intense snowfall bands are expected throughout the entire period,” said Elliot.
Several major roadways will be impacted by this widespread and long-lasting snowy weather, including interstates 81, 80, 90 and 75 where they pass through areas downwind of the Great Lakes.

Anyone traveling even short distances through this region over the weekend should take precautions or avoid travel altogether.
“In just a few miles, visibility can drop from over 10 miles to just a few feet in the heaviest lake-effect snow bands,” said Elliott.
“Roadways can go from clear to totally snow covered in just a few hundred yards, and the blinding visibilities greatly heighten the risk for motor vehicle accidents and multi-car pileups.”
Elliott also explained that it is best to reduce speeds significantly and use four-wheel drive, if possible, when driving in snowy weather.
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Traffic will be snarled and buildings will be slowly buried through the beginning of next week before the snow tapers off.
Two Alberta Clipper storm systems will move through the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, bringing temporary lulls in the lake-effect snowfall, Elliot stated.
While a similar lake-effect event is possible later next week, a repeat of the intensity and duration of the lake-effect event into this weekend is not likely.