BUFFALO, N.Y. – After the 3.5 feet of snow the Buffalo area received over the holiday weekend, the lake-effect snow machine is cranking up again.
Lake-effect-prone areas of New York and Pennsylvania are in for another 1 to 3 feet. Buffalo and Watertown, New York, are in the bull’s-eye.
“Next round of lake-effect snow ramps up as (cities off of) Lake Ontario gets pasted under westerly flow. Western New York off Lake Erie gets hammered too,” said Winter Weather Specialist Tom Niziol. “Airmass is very cold so snow-to-water ratios will be high, 30:1 likely, another reason snow totals will be up there.”
THE BEST WAYS TO SHOVEL SNOW AND STAY SAFE DOING IT
This might be seen as an insult to injury. But to a Buffalo native, this just seems like winter in the fourth-snowiest city in the U.S. It averages 95.4 inches per year.
“By Wednesday morning, that wind’s really going to shift, and you’re going to watch it run all the way across the entire surface of the lakes,” explained Meteorologist Adam Klotz. “That’s when you start to see it pick up more moisture over the lakes and then start to really dump some of that very heavy snowfall downwind.”
A LOOK BACK ON BUFFALO’S HISTORIC 2014 ‘SNOWVEMBER’ STORMS THAT LEFT 7 FEET OF SNOW IN SOME SPOTS
Erie County, New York, continues the State of Emergency and Travel Advisory into Thursday night after issuing it over the weekend. In addition to the snow, which could fall on Wednesday at rates of 1 to 2-plus inches per hour, winds will howl, making travel dangerous, according to the NWS.
“As the snow will be fluffy with less water content, winds gusting over 35 mph later on Wednesday will produce blowing and drifting snow with possible whiteout conditions at times,” wrote the NWS Buffalo Office.
Near-record low levels for Great Lake ice allow the wind more access to moisture, which means more snow. Ice coverage percentage is in the single digits.
THIN ICE: LAKES BEAR IMPACTS FROM WARM WINTER
“One of the big important impacts of all of this is that as the lakes freeze over, you start to lose this lake effect snow. Because once it’s covered in ice, then you can’t pick up any more water,” said Klotz. “We have very little ice across these lakes right now. So for the time being, and maybe for the entire winter, we’re going to see lake effect snow impact some of these areas over and over and over.”
The NWS issued Lake Effect Snow Warnings through Thursday.
Travel will be at its worst Wednesday afternoon and night. The winds will calm through the day Thursday and the snow will taper off by the evening.
All eyes are on Orchard Park‘s Highmark Stadium, where the Buffalo Bills are set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The NFL and fans are hoping not to have a repeat of last weekend’s wild card game. Officials postponed the game until Monday due to near-blizzard conditions.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS, BUFFALO BILLS GAME RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY DUE TO HEAVY SNOW, WIND
Even on Monday, crowds had to wade through feet of snow to root on the home team. This is despite the team calling out to fans to come shovel snow from the stadium for $20 per hour and meals.
“This was the first game in the NFL history without assigned seating, but you had to clean off your own spot,” said Meteorologist Ian Oliver. “It was kind of everybody for themselves.”
Snow looks to stop by the time the Bills take on the Chiefs, but light snow showers remain possible, so that may hurt shoveling efforts.