Metro Buffalo area is now under a State of Emergency as a historic lake-effect snowstorm brings almost 5 feet of snow. Authorities report 2 deaths and roads closed. To add to that, thundersnow is now observed in some areas.
including michigan, but i m going to focus in on western new york. under lake effect snow warnings, the driving ban in erie county, the state of emergency that is in place. it is where buffalo is located and it is on the far east and of lake erie. you can see the snow band that has set up across this area. i found this fascinating, this is about 200 miles in length, but it is only about ten miles in diameter. so it is dependent on where this band of snow sets up and who will see the heaviest snowfall. by the way, some of those lightning strike that you see on that our snow. this happens with this kind of event, this intense snow band that can go downwind of the great lakes. there are already unofficial reports of two feet of snow in western new york and of course it continues to pile on. i want you to pay attention to the direction of the wind and the forecast imagery here.
The National Weather Service is still predicting another day of heavy snow across the region. Travel is still not advised but an outright ban in Erie County has been changed to an advisory in several areas.
The National Weather Service has issued a series of Lake Effect Snow Warnings calling for wide bands of Lake Effect snow to fall across Western New York, in some cases at the rate of 3 inches an hour through Saturday night. The New York State Thruway will be closed to commercial traffic only between The Pennsylvania state border and Rochester, beginning Thursday at 4 pm.