A giant cold air mass from Siberia is due to meet the warm Great Lakes this week, creating a massive snowstorm.
The passing of a massive cold front over a relatively warm lake creates what is known as a lake-effect snow event. The warm lake waters heat the cold air, sending it upwards and condensing the moisture from the lake into clouds. The small, highly dense clouds curtain limited areas with a massive amount of snow. This phenomenon is set to begin on Friday.
Roughly 1.5 million people across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York are currently under a lake-effect snow warning, Fox Weather reported. It will likely last through the weekend.
“This is going to be a long-fused event,” NWS Buffalo lead forecaster Kirk Apffel told the outlet. “We’re looking for Friday through at least Monday, there’s going to be snow in the area.”
The hardest hit areas include Watertown, New York; the Tug Hill Plateau; parts of Interstate 90 between Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York; and parts of Interstate 81 north of Syracuse, New York, according to the Washington Post.
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The hardest hit areas in New York will be Watertown, with a projected 2-3 feet of snow between Wednesday and Friday; 3-4 feet in Lowville; and 4-6 feet in Montague, according to Fox Weather. Another 2-3 feet of snow is expected in Erie, Pennsylvania, and parts of northeast Ohio.
Travel disruptions around the Thanksgiving holiday are expected.