Cold gusts are bringing lake effect snow to several states as the journey to Thanksgiving is underway

The first major snowstorm of the season threatens to engulf New York cities along Lakes Erie and Ontario during a hectic holiday and shopping weekend.

An arctic cold air outbreak will expand south and east, bringing “dangerously cold winds” to the northern Plains and upper Midwest, the National Weather Service said Saturday, while heavy lake snow could make travel there “very difficult to impossible” next Week.

“Travel will be extremely difficult and dangerous this weekend, particularly in areas where several feet of snow could accumulate very quickly,” the National Weather Service said Saturday.

CBS New York meteorologist John Elliott said “very intense snow” would hit communities along the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions.

Cold warnings were issued for parts of North Dakota on Saturday and high pressure from central Canada will move south into the Northern Plains by Monday. A freeze warning is issued over the central Gulf Coast states in the southeast, the weather service said.

A portion of Interstate 90 in Pennsylvania was closed Saturday, as were the westbound lanes of the New York Thruway toward Pennsylvania. Nearly two feet of snow has already fallen in parts of New York, Ohio and Michigan, and the northwestern tip of Pennsylvania recorded about 29 inches of snow.

Roads in parts of northwestern Pennsylvania became so impassable early Saturday that scores of people sought refuge overnight in the lobby and hallways of a fully booked Holiday Inn hotel near I-90. Jeremiah Weatherley, a hotel employee, said dozens of people rolled in as the snow piled up. Workers opened the hotel’s conference room and gave people blankets so they could sleep on the floor.

“It was difficult to deal with, but we had no choice,” he said. “They just showed up and we don’t want to turn people away.”

Light to moderate snowfall was expected from the middle Mississippi Valley to the central Appalachians on Saturday, with similar snow conditions over portions of the Northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley and the central Appalachians on Sunday, the weather service said.

Heavy lake snow in Michigan was expected to continue into the weekend in northern parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service in Gaylord. Some areas of the Upper Peninsula could see up to 3 feet of snow Sunday night through Monday, National Weather Service meteorologist Lily Chapman said.

New York state forecasters warned that 4 to 6 feet of blowing and blowing snow could occur in Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario by Monday.

After an unusually mild fall, up to 2 to 3 feet of snow was possible along Lake Erie and south of Buffalo from lake effect bands, notorious for hitting the region with snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour. Lake effect snow occurs when warm, moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold, dry air above it.

“The lake has a temperature of 50 degrees. The temperature is about six degrees above what we should be at this time of year, that’s why we’re having these severe lake effect events,” said Erie County Public Works Commissioner William Geary. “With the outlook for the next two weeks of December, we’re likely to see more.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency for affected counties, allowing state authorities to mobilize resources. Rapidly deteriorating conditions led to closures along Interstate 90 on Friday, and tandem and commercial vehicles were banned on Interstate 86 in western New York and much of U.S. Route 219 starting Friday afternoon.

“There is a significant number of vehicles coming off the road on 219 right now,” Gregory Butcher, deputy director of preparedness and homeland security for Erie County, said at an afternoon briefing.

ATVs and snowmobiles have been deployed throughout the county to assist first responders if needed, Butcher said.

The Buffalo Bills called for volunteers to potentially shovel snow at Highmark Stadium, where there could be more than 2 feet of snow ahead of Sunday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

“It’s going to be slow, there’s no doubt about it,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, adding that the heaviest snow is expected to be over by kickoff.

Lake effect snow also blanketed parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is expected to last through the weekend. The area was covered in snow Friday afternoon, with more than a foot of snow in some places.

“We have this westerly, northwesterly flow regime and this cool air mass over the UP,” said Chapman of the National Weather Service. “So it’s pretty good preparation for this long-lasting lake-effect snowfall event.”

Gusty winds, particularly near the Great Lakes, have reduced visibility in Michigan and Chapman is urging caution on the roads.

Joe DeLizio, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said visibility on the roads was poor but he had not been informed of any major accidents.

“I haven’t heard much about any problems, but traveling is obviously pretty difficult,” DeLizio said.