Snow in the form of lakes will dump another one to two meters of snow in parts of the USA: “It keeps coming and coming”

CNN
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Travel after Thanksgiving will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region on Sunday, with several feet of lake-effect snow on the ground, while much of the United States experiences bitingly cold temperatures.

More than two million people downwind of the Great Lakes are under additional winter weather warnings. Winter storm warnings are posted for Lakes Superior and Michigan. And lake effect snow warnings are in effect for Lakes Erie and Ontario. Heavy snow has already been reported in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state this weekend.

Nearly a meter of snow fell primarily in parts of Western New York in recent days, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Saybrook, Ohio, took home the top prize with 49.2 inches of snow so far.

Maritime warnings in most of western New York expire Sunday night through Monday, but have been extended through Tuesday morning in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania.

The cold will continue as nearly 70% of the continental U.S. will feel the chill of temperatures below 32 degrees over the next few days. Some cities, including New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati, will experience below-average temperatures throughout the week.

Homeowners in Erie, Pennsylvania, shoveled large piles of snow on Saturday and used snow blowers to clear the mounds from their driveways and sidewalks, according to footage from CNN affiliate WICU.

“Yesterday I shoveled for four hours, and today I’m here for about an hour,” Erie resident Richard Korytowski told WICU as he dug his driveway.

“I expected to shovel,” he said, “but not this much.”

With more snow predicted, CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar shows us who will be affected.

Lake effect snow occurs when cold, wind-driven air flows over a not-so-cold lake—in this case, the Great Lakes, where the water is at record-high temperatures.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, treacherous conditions on Sunday caused some of the city’s plow drivers to get stuck while clearing snow, city officials said on Facebook.

A state of emergency issued by Governor Kathy Hochul applies to eleven New York districts in western and central New York on Friday. The declaration also applies to Erie County, where Amherst officials declared a Code Blue alert Saturday and urged anyone who needed shelter from the extreme cold to call for help.

“My administration is working around the clock to respond to the snowstorm in Western New York and the North Country,” Hochul said Saturday. “Our state authorities and over 100 National Guard members are on site to support storm operations.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also called up his state’s National Guard on Saturday to help stranded motorists and ensure emergency responders can reach anyone trapped, he said on X.

According to Shapiro’s office, Pennsylvania State Police responded to nearly 200 traffic accidents in a 24-hour period on Friday and Saturday.

The winter weather is arriving just as millions of Thanksgiving celebrants across the country are beginning to head home. But across the affected region, post-holiday travel will be “very difficult to impossible” for some motorists, and forecasters are urging people to stay off the roads as whiteout conditions make driving “treacherous and potentially dangerous.” is, according to the National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York.

The outbreak of Arctic cold pushing south from Canada will cause temperatures to fall as much as 15 to 25 degrees below average across much of the eastern half of the U.S. by the middle of next week, forecasters say.

“High temperatures are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees below average from the Northern Plains to the Ohio Valley on Sunday and Monday, with the 10 to 20 degrees below average temperatures spreading further southeast along much of the East Coast through Monday,” according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.

An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow could fall in parts of Pennsylvania, northern Ohio and western New York by Monday. An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow could fall in Watertown, New York, according to CNN meteorologists.

“The highest amounts of snow are expected downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting areas of northeastern Ohio, far northwestern Pennsylvania, western New York State and portions of northwestern New York State,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.

North East, Pennsylvania, a county in Erie County, recorded just over 42 inches of snow between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, while Erie, Pennsylvania saw 31 inches. According to the weather service, 46 inches of snow fell in the New York cities of Barnes Corners and Copenhagen on Sunday morning.

In Ashtabula County, Ohio, resident Ashley Drew shared footage of a home in Conneaut disappearing into a thick blanket of snow on Saturday, with the blue front door only partially visible as the snow continued to fall.

About 40 inches of snow fell in parts of the county bordering Lake Erie – and there could be 12 to 21 inches more by Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

Kathy Davis, a resident of Tug Hill in upstate New York, described Saturday’s heavy snowfall as “good, old-fashioned winter” in a video clip she shared with CNN affiliate WWNY.

“That’s what I remember as a kid,” Davis said, according to WWNY. “It just keeps coming and coming.”

Matt Eisert, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, said he was visiting his father in Erie, Pennsylvania, for Thanksgiving when his parents’ home was surrounded by heavy snow.

The real estate agent still plans to return to Columbus sometime Sunday on a trip for which he is well prepared.

“I have blankets in the car, water and some protein bars. I always stock up on supplies and keep a little road survival kit in my car,” Eisert said.

Highway traffic cameras showed snowy conditions over highways in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York on Saturday.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has closed several roads in Erie County as authorities continue cleanup efforts. The department has also lowered the speed limit to 45 mph on portions of I-86 and I-90 in Erie County, while other roads remain closed to certain types of vehicles, including school buses, tractors and motorcycles.

“Stay home, stay put, stay safe. Travel only if necessary,” Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said at a news conference Sunday, calling the storm a “Snowmageddon event.”

Davis praised coordination between local and state authorities, including the Pennsylvania National Guard, which is on hand to help stranded motorists, essential workers and anyone who needs to be moved to warming shelter.

According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, several roads in Ohio are closed due to debris and officials are urging motorists to drive with caution on slippery, snowy roads.

The Ohio Department of Transportation in Akron said 25 crew members were working around the clock in Ashtabula County, where commissioners declared a state of emergency Saturday, the county agency said via Facebook.

New York State Department of Transportation crews worked overnight to clear roads covered by heavy snow in Chautauqua County and Jefferson County, where motorists were also urged to stay home to give crews room to work. All commercial vehicles are prohibited on portions of I-90 in New York until further notice.

New York State Police helped at least 110 disabled vehicles from parts of western New York to the Pennsylvania state line between Thanksgiving and Sunday, officials said in a news release.

Two of the travelers who needed assistance in the area were a man and his 64-year-old wife who were heading for their heart transplant on Friday when they were stranded in the snowstorm, according to the news release.

Officials helped take the woman to an airport outside the storm and she was flown for her transplant, officials said.

In the Buffalo area, the National Weather Service had an urgent message Saturday: “Delay all travel. If you must travel, drive with extreme caution.” The snow warning for the Buffalo area remains in effect through Monday night.

Meanwhile, just hours before kickoff, snow still covered the stands and field at the open-air Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, where the Buffalo Bills are scheduled to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

The Bills began asking fans for help Friday to clear snow from the field before the game. According to the National Weather Service, workers had to shovel copious amounts of snow as nearly 23 inches had fallen by Sunday morning.

Erie County officials in New York said Friday they do not expect snow conditions to impact the game, and as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Bills officials made no announcement regarding postponing the game.

CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Gene Norman, Allison Chinchar, Artemis Moshtaghian, Taylor Galgano and Sam Joseph contributed to this report.