Lake-effect storm to blanket New York, Pennsylvania with up to 5 feet of snow this weekend
Up to 5 feet of snow is expected downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, making for a very wintry scene during the first weekend of 2025.
From snow squalls and thundersnow in the mid-Atlantic to lake-effect snow in New York, Jan. 3 was marked by wintry weather throughout much of the Northeast.
Due to a wave of bitterly cold air, lake-effect snow started downwind of the Great Lakes during the middle of this week. The wind direction has shifted around slightly, but the cold air has persisted, giving many in the lake-effect belt a sprinkling of snow while burying others.
As of Sunday morning, just over 17 inches of snow has piled up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and over 21 inches in Rome, New York with more on the way through the weekend. Upstate New York has continued to report impressive snowfall amounts of 20-30 inches of snow and few reports around Rome, New York, came in with more than 30 inches of snow on Friday afternoon.
As the cold air continues rushing over the relatively warm and open waters of the Great Lakes this weekend, even more snow is forecast to pile up through Sunday.
While snow could still fall anywhere downwind of the Great Lakes, the most persistent snow band can continue through Sunday evening around and just north of Syracuse, New York, where several inches of snow can still fall in a short amount of time.
"Snowfall totals are likely to become even more impressive as snow continues downwind of Lake Ontario into Sunday," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist John Feerick. Towns like Rome, Utica and Syracuse are expected to be hit especially hard, which is likely to impact travel along parts of Interstate 81 and Interstate 90.
As of Sunday morning, the Lake Erie band has largely been reduced to flurries. The Lake Ontario band just north of the Syracuse metro is expected to shift south through the day Sunday and taper off in the evening. Another foot of snow could fall in some locations, making the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ snowfall of 60 inches within reach.
The lake-effect snow event will slow down at the close of the weekend, as a major winter storm on the Ohio Valley changes the wind direction and unveils disruptive snow and ice.
Additional waves of Arctic air are expected to push across much of the United States, including the Great Lakes, through the middle of the month. The subfreezing temperatures will prolong cleanup and make it difficult for the snow to melt anytime soon.
Persistent cold air over the warmer lakes is also likely to create more lake-effect snow in the region through January, as ice cover on the lakes slowly builds.
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