By Orlando Mayorquín, Kate Selig and Isabelle Taft
Lake-effect snow blowing in from the Great Lakes has blanketed parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, stranding hundreds of vehicles on roads and snarling post-Thanksgiving travel plans for millions.
The storm is expected to continue dumping snow in the region into the week, meteorologists said, a troubling forecast for Sunday, a peak travel day as people look to return home after the holiday. Well over 2 feet of snow had fallen in many parts of the region — and more than 3 feet in some communities — as of Sunday morning.
“It’s going to be pretty brutal,” Brian Hurley, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said Saturday.
Some areas could see up to 6 feet of snow by Tuesday, with the heaviest snowfall expected along the belly of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Pennsylvania and New York. Governors of both states have made disaster declarations in these areas and deployed National Guard troops.
There have been some reports of minor injuries, and no reports of deaths, from the storm so far.
Here’s what we know about the lake-effect snowstorm.
Where has it snowed the most?
So far, parts of the eastern Great Lakes region, along a roughly 160-mile stretch of Interstate 90 spanning from northeast Ohio to Buffalo, New York, and northern Michigan have gotten the heaviest amounts of snow.
Additionally, several communities in New York received more than 40 inches of snow. Copenhagen, a village in the town of Denmark about an hour north of Syracuse, was inundated with 46 inches, according to the weather service. (The village and town were both named after their counterparts in northern Europe.) West Carthage, a village of about 2,000 people nearby, received 41 inches.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula saw record-breaking snowfall Friday. The resort town of Gaylord received more than 2 feet, breaking a previous daily record of 17 inches in 1942, the weather service said.
At least an additional 2 feet of snow had fallen over parts of the Upper Peninsula by Sunday morning, and another 10 inches were expected Sunday, forecasters said.
But on Sunday, the brunt of the snow — up to a foot and a half — is expected to fall on Watertown, New York, a city of about 25,000 on the eastern banks of Lake Ontario. Mayor Sarah Pierce of Watertown had canceled city events Saturday and said there was an “all hands on deck” effort across city departments to respond to the storm.
Are roads closed? What about airports?
The snow has wreaked havoc on travelers, prompting road closures and commercial truck bans along sections of Interstate 90 in New York near the Pennsylvania state line Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Officials urged motorists to stay home. The weather service in Cleveland warned of whiteout conditions that could make travel “treacherous and potentially life-threatening.”
Lake-effect snow is especially dangerous for drivers because conditions can change rapidly — the weather may be clear in one area, but there could be heavy snow and poor visibility just a few miles away.
Hundreds of vehicles had been stranded on the roads, Brenton Davis, executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania, said Saturday. Some motorists slept in their vehicles at nearby gas stations to wait out the hazardous conditions Friday night. One woman who was traveling from Buffalo to her home in Columbus, Ohio, said the trip took longer than 24 hours after she was stranded on the highway for hours.
When will it end?
Forecasters expect the lake-effect snow to continue at least through Tuesday, though the intensity of the storm is expected to taper off by then.
“In the next 72 hours, we are still looking at additional multiple feet to the tune of 3, maybe as much as 4 more feet,” Hurley said Saturday evening.
The areas around Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and New York could see another 2 or 3 feet of snow, he added. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula could get an additional 2 feet, and forecasters expect another 12 to 18 inches in northeastern Ohio by Tuesday. In Buffalo, up to 20 inches of snow could fall through Sunday.
A shift in air flow is forecast to push the snow into central New York starting Sunday evening, bringing 3 to 6 inches to the Syracuse area.
The changing conditions may provide only a brief reprieve, as forecasters predict more lake-effect snow could return later in the week.
What’s causing the storm, and when did it start?
The lake-effect storm, which began Thursday, was the result of persistent winds pushing cold air over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes. This type of storm usually picks up moisture over the lakes and dumps it over colder land once moving ashore, turning it into huge amounts of snow.
Lake-effect snow is typical in the Great Lakes region this time of year, Hurley said, as water temperatures are as warm as they will be through the rest of the season.
How else has the storm affected communities?
Aside from travel snags, the snowstorm upended plans even for people who had stayed put. Schools announced snow days for Monday. Religious services were canceled, and many businesses were closed. Local events, like the one in Erie that was supposed to feature local vendors, restaurants and museums, were postponed.
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