By Ashley R. Williams, Sarah Dewberry, Zenebou Sylla and Dakin Andone, CNN
Lake-effect snow buried a vehicle in Pennsylvania’s Millcreek Township.
Photo: Matt Eisert via CNN Newsource
Post-Thanksgiving travel will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region due to several feet of lake-effect snow, while biting cold temperatures sweep across a large swath of the United States.
More than two million people downwind of Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario remain under lake-effect snow warnings, with heavy snow already reported this weekend across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state.
Most significantly, nearly four feet of snow fell on parts of western New York the last few days, according to the Weather Prediction Centre. The lake-effect warnings in most of western New York are set to expire Sunday night through Monday, but have been extended in northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania until Tuesday morning.
The cold will persist, as nearly 70 percent of the continental US will feel the chill of temperatures below 0degC over the next few days. Some cities, including New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati, will experience below-average temperatures for the entire week.
Homeowners in Erie, Pennsylvania, shovelled large piles of snow and used snow blowers to clear the mounds from their driveways and walkways Saturday, according to footage from CNN affiliate WICU.
“Yesterday, I shovelled for four hours and today I’ve been here for about an hour,” Erie resident and native Richard Korytowski told WICU as he dug out his driveway.
“I expected to shovel,” he said, “but not this much.”
Lake-effect snow occurs when cold, wind-driven air flows across a not-so-cold lake – in this case, the Great Lakes, where the water is at a record warmth.
Eleven New York counties across western and central New York are under a state of emergency order that Gov. Kathy Hochul issued Friday. The declaration includes Erie County, where Amherst officials over the weekend issued a code blue alert, inviting anyone in need of shelter from the extreme cold to call for help.
“My administration is working around the clock to respond to the snowstorm in Western New York and the North Country,” Hochul said on X Saturday. “Our state agencies and over 100 National Guard members are on the ground to support storm operations.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also called in his state’s National Guard to assist stranded motorists and ensure emergency responders can reach anyone trapped, he said on X.
The winter weather comes just as millions of Thanksgiving revellers across the country begin to travel home. But throughout the affected region, post-holiday travel will be “very difficult to impossible” for some motorists, with forecasters urging people to stay off the roads as whiteout conditions make driving “treacherous and potentially dangerous,” according to the National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York.
The outbreak of Arctic chill diving southward out of Canada will cause temperatures in much of the eastern half of the US to fall as much as 8 to 14 degrees below average through the middle of next week, forecasters say.
“High temperatures (are) expected to be 10 to 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) below average Sunday and Monday from the Northern Plains into the Ohio Valley, with the 10 to 20 degree (Fahrenheit) below-average temperatures spreading farther southeast along much of the east coast by Monday,” according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre.
A person clears the snow from the sidewalk in Lowville, New York.
Photo: Cara Anna/AP via CNN Newsource
Lake-effect snow to dump another foot or two of snow
Through Tuesday, an additional 30cm to 60cm of snow could fall in parts of Pennsylvania, northern Ohio and western New York. Watertown, New York, could receive an additional 30cm to 60cm of snow, according to CNN meteorologists.
“The heaviest snow totals are expected downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting areas from northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania, western New York state and portions of northwest New York state,” according to the Weather Prediction Centre.
North East, Pennsylvania, a borough in Erie County, recorded just over 106cm of snow between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon while Erie, Pennsylvania, received 78cm. The New York towns of Barnes Corners and Copenhagen saw 117cm of snow by Sunday morning, according to the weather service.
In Ashtabula County, Ohio, resident Ashley Drew shared footage of a Conneaut home vanishing into a blanket of heavy snow Saturday, with its blue front door just partially visibly as snow continued to fall.
Parts of the county, which sits on Lake Erie, have seen about 101cm of snowfall – and it could see between 30cm and 53cm more through Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
Kathy Davis, a resident of Tug Hill in northern New York, described Saturday’s heavy snow as a “good old-fashioned winter,” in a video clip she shared with CNN affiliate WWNY.
“This is what I remember as a kid,” Davis said, according to WWNY. “It just keeps coming and coming.”
Large amounts of snow piled up at a home in Erie County, Pennsylvania.
Photo: Donika Gunther via CNN Newsource
Forecasters warn of difficult travel, whiteout conditions
Matt Eisert, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, said he was visiting his father in Erie, Pennsylvania, for Thanksgiving when his parents’ home became surrounded by heavy snow.
The realtor still plans to return to Columbus sometime Sunday on a journey for which he’s well prepared.
“I have blankets in the car, water, some protein bars. I always stock up and have a little road survival kit in my car,” Eisert said.
Highway traffic cameras showed snowy conditions over the highway in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York on Saturday.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has closed several roads in Erie County, while officials continue clean-up efforts. The department has also reduced the speed limit to 45 miles per hour on parts of I-86 and I-90 in Erie County, while other roadways remain closed to certain types of vehicles, including school buses, tractors and motorcycles.
“Stay home, stay in place, stay safe. Only travel when necessary,” Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said at a news conference Sunday, where he described the storm as a “snowmageddon event.”
Davis praised the coordination between local and state agencies, including the Pennsylvania National Guard, which is on hand to assist stranded motorists, essential workers and anyone who needs to be taken to a warming shelter.
In Ohio, several roadways are closed due to debris, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation, and officials are urging drivers to move carefully on slippery, snowy roads.
The Ohio Department of Transportation in Akron said 25 crew members worked around the clock in Ashtabula County, where commissioners issued a state of emergency on Saturday, the county’s board posted via Facebook.
New York state Department of Transportation crews worked overnight to clear roadways in Chautauqua County and Jefferson County covered by heavy snow, where motorists have also been asked to stay home to give crews room to work. All commercial vehicles are banned on portions of I-90 in New York until further notice.
In Buffalo, the National Weather service had an urgent message Saturday, “Delay all travel. If you must travel, drive with extreme caution.” Buffalo’s lake-effect snow warning continues through Monday night.
Meanwhile, snow covered the field of the open-air Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, where the Buffalo Bills are scheduled to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
The Bills on Friday began requesting help from fans to clear the field of snow ahead of game time. Erie County officials in New York said Friday they do not anticipate the snowy conditions will impact the game.
Lake-effect snow is likely to fall through 4pm ET Sunday (10am Monday NZT) over Orchard Park, according to the New York State Weather Risk Communication Centre.
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Gene Norman, Allison Chinchar, Artemis Moshtaghian, Taylor Galgano and Sam Joseph contributed to this report.
– CNN