Snow Falls In WNY; Winter Weather Advisory Issued
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Snow has officially entered the forecast.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo issued a winter weather advisory for Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Wyoming and southern Erie counties that began Sunday night at 5 p.m. and continued through Monday morning at 7 a.m.
Steven Welch, meteorologist, said that the organization is calling for 4 to 7 inches to fall in that time with wind gusts as high as 45 miles per hour and strongest near the Lake Erie shoreline.
"The snow itself is from some lake enhancement and lake effect Sunday," he said. "That's occurring behind the cold front as it goes through and that's bringing the temperatures in and that front going over Lake Erie is what is causing the snow."
He added, "There is expected to be some upstream connection to Lake Huron and really upstream from the other Great Lakes to get some moisture in from the lake effect snow."
Welch said that the front, which accounts for the first snow fall of the season, is 'not abnormally early or late."
"It's probably close to average," he said.
This week also marks Winter Weather Awareness Week. Welch encouraged residents to plan ahead with the winter weather becoming more abundant.
"Give yourself extra time to drive to your destination," he said. "Whether that be work, school or going out for errands because this is the first real snow of this amount. Make sure you give caution and extra room in front of the vehicle."
Welch said the weather will warm back up in the middle of the week with temperatures appearing to return by the weekend.
"A lot of the snow will melt by the end of the week," he said. "It's going to be a rollercoaster this week for weather."