Persistent snowfall

The first big snow of the season threatened to bury towns in New York along Lakes Erie and Ontario during a hectic holiday travel and shopping weekend.
In Michigan, heavy lake-effect snow in the northern parts of the state was expected to continue into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Gaylord. Some areas of the Upper Peninsula could see up to 3ft (1 meter) of snow from Sunday night to Monday, NWS meteorologist Lily Chapman said.
As flakes began flying on Friday, New York state forecasters warned that 4-6ft (1.2-1.8 meters) of blowing and drifting snow could fall in Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario through Monday.
After an unusually mild fall, as much as 2-3ft (0.6-0.9 meters) of snow was possible along Lake Erie and south of Buffalo from lake-effect bands notorious for pummeling the region with snowfall rates of 2-4in (5-10cm) an hour. Lake-effect snow happens when warm moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold dry air overhead.
“The lake is 50 degrees [10C]. We’re about six degrees above where we should be this time of year; that’s why we’re seeing these heavy lake-effect events,” the Erie county public works commissioner, William Geary, said. “The outlook for the next two weeks into December, we’ll probably see some more.”
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a disaster emergency for the targeted counties, allowing state agencies to mobilize resources. Rapidly deteriorating conditions on Friday caused closures along Interstate 90, and tandem and commercial vehicles were banned from Interstate 86 in western New York and much of US Route 219 beginning on Friday afternoon.
“There’s a considerable number of vehicles going off the road on the 219 currently,” Gregory Butcher, Erie county’s deputy director for preparedness and homeland security, said at an afternoon briefing.
ATVs and snowmobiles were being placed around the county to help first responders if necessary, Butcher said.
The Buffalo Bills called for volunteers to shovel snow at Highmark Stadium, where more than 2ft (0.6 meters) of snow was possible before Sunday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. Last year, a major lake-effect storm forced the NFL to push back the Bills wild-card playoff home game against Pittsburgh from Sunday to Monday.
“It’s going to be slow going, there’s no doubt about that,” the Erie county executive, Mark Poloncarz, said, adding that the heaviest snow is expected to be over by kickoff.
The team, meanwhile, was preparing to play in any condition.
“We’re trying to stay on top of it,” coach Sean McDermott said Friday.
The Bills are 9-2, their best start since 1992, and with a win on Sunday they would clinch their fifth straight AFC East title.
Lake-effect snow also covered parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in a system that is expected to last through the weekend. The area was blanketed in snow by Friday afternoon, with some places already measuring more than a foot (0.3 meters) of snow.
“We’ve got this westerly, north-westerly flow regime and this chilly air mass over the UP,” said Chapman of the NWS. “So it’s a pretty good setup for this long-duration lake-effect snowfall event.”
Gusty winds, especially near the Great Lakes, has affected visibility in Michigan and Chapman urged caution on the roads.
Joe DeLizio, a meteorologist for the NWS in Gaylord, said visibility on roads was low but he hadn’t been made aware of any major accidents so far.
“Haven’t heard too much as far as problems, but obviously travel is pretty difficult,” DeLizio said.