Widespread lake-effect snow event to create dangerous travel, whiteouts near Great Lakes
The most widespread lake-effect snow event so far this season will cause major disruptions into Friday, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 36 inches.
Heavy snow began from the Dakotas to Michigan on the evening of Nov. 25, prompting blizzard and winter storm warnings.
Winds will howl, temperatures will drop and the flakes will fly and pile up around the Great Lakes through Friday with significant impacts ranging from snow-clogged roads and travel disruptions to sporadic downed trees and power outages, AccuWeather meteorologists advise.
"This will be the most widespread lake-effect snow event of the season so far," AccuWeather Vice President of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin said.
In the most persistent bands of lake-effect snow, it may pile up at a rate of 2 inches per hour or more, which can overwhelm road crews and leave some motorists stranded. In the snowiest spots, the accumulation will be measured in feet.
In the heaviest snow areas downwind of lakes Superior and Erie — including parts of northern Michigan, northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York — the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ snowfall for the event is 36 inches.
Early on Thanksgiving morning, the town of Gile, Wisconsin, reported 33 inches of snow from the storm.
Through Friday, some of the heaviest snow will fall in the eastern Great Lakes, northern New York and the towns just between Buffalo, New York, and Erie, Pennsylvania.
"Downtown Cleveland is expected to experience heavy lake snow with enough to shovel and plow," AccuWeather Supervisor of Forecasting Operations Alyson Hoegg added.
Lake-effect snow is not anticipated in downtown Chicago, but heavy snow is expected in northwestern Indiana and in the western and northern parts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Friday morning.
Snow showers and locally heavy snow squalls will extend well beyond the lakes into parts of northeastern Indiana, northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, western and northern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, southeastern New York and western New England.
"Some highways may close due to the heavy snowfall rate and perhaps chain-reaction accidents," AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco said.
Motorists traveling on interstates 75, 79, 80, 81, 86, 90 and 196 should monitor local forecast lake-effect and snow squall warnings and be prepared for rapidly changing road and visibility conditions.
After the lake-effect snow diminishes, a broader area of snow and mixed precipitation is expected to develop over the Central states this weekend.
That storm will gather over the Plains prior to the end of the week and expand across a large part of the Midwest with accumulating snow and travel difficulties for those heading home after Thanksgiving.
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