Crews work around the clock to clear city streets of snow
Off Lake Erie, the snow band will stay south of Buffalo on Thursday morning, with snowfall rates as high as 1-2 inches per hour over the Buffalo Southtowns, the FOX Forecast Center said.
The band will then begin to move north around midday, once again bringing heavy snow to the city of Buffalo. During the afternoon, the snow band will move north of Buffalo before sliding back toward the city during the evening hours.
The lake-effect snow will end once the snow from the cross-country storm begins Thursday night. By this time, some locations south of Buffalo may end up with 7 feet of snow when combining the two lake-effect events this week.
In West Seneca, a suburb just south of the city of Buffalo, the 5-day total snowfall is now at 74.8 inches. Meanwhile, in the heart of the Lake Ontario snow band, the FOX Forecast Center said 40 inches of snow was reported in Copenhagen, New York, between 5 a.m. Wednesday and 8:15 a.m. Thursday morning.
Footage by Richard Hulburd of @weather_buffalo shows the "near-blizzard conditions" at the Lake Erie waterfront in Hamburg, New York, with approximately two feet of snow on the ground, according to his observations.
So far, local authorities have reported three storm-related deaths in Erie County, New York.
Snow rates of 2-3 inches per hour likely off Lake Ontario
Off Lake Ontario, a band of heavy lake-effect snow with snowfall rates between 2 and 3 inches per hour is ongoing Thursday morning.
By early afternoon, this band will move north and hammer the Watertown and Fort Drum areas. The band will drift back south by late afternoon before ending Thursday night.
Weekly snow totals in this area will also be measured in feet.
After taking a brief break as the cross-country storm moves through, the lake-effect machine will kick right back into gear Friday night. Except this time, the winds will be out of the north, and the heavy snow will focus on the southern shores of the Great Lakes, the FOX Forecast Center said.
This will put northern Ohio, including the Cleveland metro, and northern Indiana, including the South Bend area, right in the bull's-eye for heavy snow.
Winter Storm Warnings are in effect as periods of heavy snow impact these areas through Sunday morning.
The snow will be accompanied by below-zero wind chills and gusty winds, which could lead to severely reduced visibility.
Region still buried in snow from earlier storm
For western New York residents, this week's storm is piling on top of heavy snow from last weekend.
Video from the town of Hamburg, New York, Office of Emergency Services on Sunday shows a car driving slowly through the snowfall with other drivers' headlights barely visible in the distance.
Heavy snowfall covered Hoak's Lakeshore Restaurant in Hamburg with icicles, as captured by Richard Hulburd from @weather_buffalo. Writing on X on Monday, Hulburd said the scene felt like he "walked into the movie Frozen."
The restaurant described the weather as a "small dose of an ice castle coating."
Reader Comments
The real scientists who study the climate, and not IPCC brochures, knew this weather was coming years ago.
I pity those preppers who were prepping for a global warming future.