BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Western New York is about to be "scrooged" by an extremely powerful winter storm that will arrive just in time for the holiday travel rush at the end of the week.
Lake snows will once again pound areas south of Buffalo STARTING on Friday afternoon. The band won't drift to the south into Ski Country until Sunday AM. Buckle up. #WNY #Lakeeffect pic.twitter.com/f7TUWcEeZo
— Josh Nichols (@wnywxguy) December 21, 2022
Blizzard Warning from 7am Friday through 7am Sunday for Erie, Niagara, Orleans, and Genesee Counties. Snow totals of 1 to 3 feet with winds gusting 50 to 70 miles per hour.
The storm will carve a path through the upper Great Lakes and into Canada. These types of storms are notorious for bringing wind, warmth, and wet weather ahead of them, and then behind them, comes the wind and the wintry weather.
This particular storm looks like it will be particularly powerful undergoing a process known in meteorology as "bombogenesis", which is the rapid deepening of a surface area of Low pressure. In fact, according to National Weather Service discussions, this storm could easily "set low pressure records" as it tracks across the Great Lakes, generating several hours of strong and damaging winds.
Here's the timeline on what to expect with this storm.
THURSDAY
-In advance of the storm, rain will develop into the night. Impacts on travel at this point will be very low.
FRIDAY
-Areas of mixed and rain and snow for early in the morning will abruptly and rapidly change to all snow by late morning. The amounts of snow will be manageable, but the temperature change will be LARGE in a very short period of time. We'll see temperatures drop from the 40s into the teens in a very short time span. This flash freeze will make roads ice up quickly.
-With the rapid drop in temperature comes strong wind. Expect wind gusts in excess of 60 mph in Buffalo for SEVERAL hours starting midday Friday. There's even a potential for hurricane force wind gusts (74 mph or greater) out over the open waters of Lake Erie.
-We'll also start to see localized lakeshore flooding issues as a result of the consistency of those powerful winds pushing the lake water up along the lakefront.
FRIDAY NIGHT-SATURDAY NIGHT
-Storm system snow will combine with those frequent 50 mph wind gusts producing considerable blowing and drifting and, thus, ground blizzard conditions at times. Travel will be next to impossible.
-Lake effect snow will then start to develop. Initially, a band will form in the northtowns. That will be followed by a significant lake effect snow band that will likely target Metro Buffalo. In all likelihood, this is the area that stands to have the best chance of needing a yardstick to measure the snowfall.
CHRISTMAS DAY
-The wind won't be as much of a factor as the storm pulls further north, but lake effect snow will be ongoing especially south of Buffalo.
-Temperatures will be brutally low. Much of the day will be spent barely above 20 degrees. Wind chills will be in the subzero category as well.
We'll continue to fine tune this forecast as new data comes in, so stay tuned.
