Cities close schools, warn drivers to stay off roads as winter storm brings snow, sleet and ice
Meanwhile, the Snow Belt south of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario experienced heavy snow of its own over the weekend, but from a phenomenon separate from the storm in the Plains, the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic.
Cities from Cleveland to Watertown, New York, were covered in 2 to 4 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, according to National Weather Service data.
The weather service cites lake effect snow, which is created when cold air moves over the relatively warm Great Lakes, pulls water into the atmosphere and then rapidly releases snow, sometimes at 2 to 3 inches per hour.
While the weekend’s lake effect snow was tapering off in Buffalo, New York, the weather service there said the storm wreaking havoc in places like Missouri and Kansas was passing to the south and could help spin up more lake effect snow Monday.
“Even so, additional accumulations will be less than an inch at most locations,” it said in a forecast discussion.
Buffalo, where a low temperature of 20 degrees was expected early Monday, activated its Code Blue precautions that seek to provide outreach, transportation, shelter and warm meals to those who may need them when it’s dangerously cold.
On Sunday, the city said in a statement, two additional shelters were opened overnight and a daytime warming center was scheduled to be activated for Monday.
Anthony J. Picente Jr., the executive of Oneida County, New York, declared a state of emergency that prohibits unnecessary travel for county workers and describes the lake effect weather as “a significant snow event.”
