Blame the east coast storm for developing snow effect on the lake and bitter cold

SYRACUSE, NY – After a milder start to the weekend, Central New York is bracing for a return of localized lake-effect snow and bitter cold. You can blame a fast-moving East Coast blizzard for the harsh winter weather on the road. After a good dump of snow closer to the New York City area, the storm moves out Monday morning and cold/lake effect snow will be our problem in CNY.

This map shows winter storm warnings and advisories tonight for eastern and southern New York State:

Snow accumulation will be heaviest from the Poconos, Catskills, to the Berkshire Mountains, with amounts decreasing as you get closer to CNY. 1-3″ accumulations will arrive by 11pm Sunday for areas south and east of Onondaga County in our area. And in Syracuse, you can see on this map that there will be little to none with only some light showers likely:

The post-storm system slides the cold air into CNY with temperatures dropping into the single digits, chills closer to 0. This cold air crossing Lake Ontario on a north-to-northwest wind will fuel snowpack south of the Lake Ontario at first into Wayne and northern Cayuga County. A wind shift to more westerly will slowly shift the band from a north-south orientation to a west-to-east direction, with the band shifting to Oswego County. Here’s a map showing weather alerts starting at 01.00 Monday to 1pm Monday depending on location.

Here is a map showing the snow forecast from Sunday at 23.00 to Monday at 23.00. There will then be more accumulation east of Lake Ontario with large amounts likely for Tug Hill in particular. Note that the Syracuse area will only pick up about 2″ while closer to the lake will see 3-6″, and over 6″ in northern Oswego County.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the bitter cold that we have been predicting for several days now. It’s hurtling through central Canada as of Sunday morning and heading into CNY. Actual air temperatures reaching dangerously cold levels near -30 degrees, with wind chills even colder. This air will be changed as it crosses the Great Lakes. Additionally, winds will turn gusty Monday night, pushing chills to below zero later overnight and continuing into the middle of the work week.

We’ve already seen a good portion of the US fall under cold weather warnings. Extreme Cold Warning along the Canadian border with cold weather warnings reaching as far south as the Mexican border. These warnings are likely to spread to the eastern third of the country and possibly into CNY.

Here is my 7-day forecast for Sunday morning in detail:

SUNDAY: Cloudy and colder, becoming a bit windy and mostly dry. Then a weather system moves up the East Coast with widespread light snow in the afternoon near Syracuse and places to the east and south. Only a trace to 1 inch across CNY, but areas east and southeast of Onondaga County could see anywhere from 1-3 inches of accumulation late in the day. High near 23 and slowly falling into the upper teens late in the day. Wind: NNW 5-15 with gusts up to 20 km/h.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Cloudy and becoming calmer but much colder. Windchill temperatures will drop to near 0. An east coast storm leaves with light snow east and southeast of Syracuse early heading east around midnight. After that, Lake Effect snow develops by midnight south of Lake Ontario and west of the Syracuse area. Low: 7. Wind: NW 5-10 becoming 3-8 MPH.

MONDAY (MLK ​​Day): Mostly cloudy with a light snow effect over the Finger Lakes and into Syracuse in the morning through the afternoon, moving up east of Lake Ontario in the evening and strengthening. gets windy and feels very cold! Wind chills between 0 and 10 during the day, becoming dangerously cold in places late Monday night. Wind: NW 3-8 becoming W 5-15 with gusts to 20 MPH, increasing Monday evening. High: 16. Make: -3.

TUESDAY: A gusty wind bringing dangerously cold wind chill (-15 to -5) in the morning may affect schools and daycare centers. Temperatures will remain very cold and it will be windy. Heavy lake snow continues over the Tug Hill region but is partly sunny and dry in CNY. High: 12. Low: -3.

WEDNESDAY: Dangerously cold wind chill (-15 to -5) in the morning may again affect schools and daycare centers. Lake effect snow continues across Tug Hill, but at least the wind will lighten up a lot. For the rest of CNY, partly sunny and dry. Very cold, with wind chill in the negatives to single digits. High: 10. Low: 1.

THURSDAY: Another cold start to the day. Partly to mostly sunny in CNY and a dry day. Not as cold as recent afternoons, but still feels cold as it gets a bit windy. Wind chills are in the negative in the morning, to single digits midday, then teenagers in the afternoon. High: 25. Low: 16.

Have a great rest of the weekend and please check back for more updates on the extreme cold in Syracuse/CNY as well as the heavy lake effect snow expected east of Lake Ontario over several days. Feet of snow may accumulate in some areas.

If you need more specific weather on any given day, go to our Weather Authority Forecast page here.