State officials are continuing to warn of this weekend’s lake effect snowstorm.
Niagara County is not expected to be hit hard by the storm with the National Weather Service in Buffalo calling for heavy lake effect snow to develop east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario with deteriorating travel conditions south of Buffalo and near Watertown. Heavy lake effect snow will continue through the weekend and even into early next week.
A State of Emergency was put in effect starting at 3 p.m. Friday for Allegany, Erie, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence and Wyoming counties.
An “extreme impact” is expected for multiple towns in Southern Erie County, including in Brant, Eden, Evans, Hamburg and parts of Orchard Park, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a news conference Friday. Northern Erie County is expected to get six inches at most.
Areas north of Buffalo are expected to see only minor snowfall totals.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s stressing that everyone be prepared for significant snow.
“This is a very serious storm. People have gotten a little complacent because the fall and the winter thus far have been pretty mild,” she said. “But I want everyone to take this seriously. ”
To further support response operations in storm-impacted areas, the state Department of Transportation has deployed an additional 62 staff – including 15 plow trucks, four snow blowers, two graders, 44 plow truck operators, nine supervisors, six equipment operator instructors, one supervising equipment operator instructor, one assistant manager and one ICS support specialist – to the North Country and Western New York.
Western New York will receive:
• 10 operators, two supervisors and one assistant manager from the Capital Region
• Two equipment operator instructors from the Mohawk Valley
• Four operators, one supervisor and two equipment operator instructors from the Finger Lakes
• 10 operators, two supervisors, two equipment operator instructors and five plow trucks from the western Southern Tier
• 10 operators, two supervisors, one ICS support specialist and five plow trucks from the Southern Tier
Regions experiencing lake effect snows will also perform rolling assists to enhance coverage in the heavy snowfall areas. These rolling assists will shift as the bands oscillate.
Tow services will be on station along U.S. Route 219 in Erie County.
The need for additional resources will be re-evaluated as conditions warrant throughout the event.
For real-time travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit 511ny.org, New York State’s official traffic and travel information source.