Western New York has been hit by the first heavy snowstorm of the season, with snowfall amounting to more than 2.5 feet in some areas. As the cold air blows over the Great Lakes, western New York, northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania are experiencing heavy snowfall. The snow has caused dangerous conditions along sections of various interstates in western New York, and heavy snowfall has mostly been concentrated north and south of Buffalo. Schools are closed in Cleveland due to the heavy snowfall, and winter weather advisories have been issued for northern Michigan.
The snowfall is mainly concentrated along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, with areas around those lakes seeing heavy snowfall. The snow bands off the lakes are expected to break apart as the direction of the wind changes, dissipating most accumulation in the affected areas by Wednesday morning. The weather system causing the snow is an upper-level low-pressure zone passing to the north, with winds blowing across the lakes and picking up moisture to be deposited as snow over land. As winter nears, snowfall will become less common as the lakes freeze over and shut down the “lake-effect snow machine.”
