Heavy snows and poor visibility started pounding parts of the Buffalo area as well portions of Genesee and Wyoming Counties and the Southern Tier on Monday night and that continued into Tuesday.
Snowfall was at the rate of 3 to 5 inches an hour in some places. Strong winds will cause severe visibility issues in some places, and the State Thruway was closed early Tuesday morning between exit 46 in Henrietta and the Pennsylvania state line.
The National Weather Service has canceled the Lake Snow Advisory for Monroe County on Tuesday. There is some sun, but it's very windy, with gusts up to 37 miles an hour. Temps are in the 20s, but wind chills are in the single numbers.
Livingston County has a Lake Snow Advisory until 6 a.m. on Wednesday. In Allegany County, the lake snow advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
The forecast for the Rochester area on Tuesday calls for snow showers, with a high of around 26 degrees. Accumulations in Rochester will generally be a couple of inches with the wind blowing the snow around. The higher accumulations of snow will be south and west of Rochester.
There is a lake effect snow warning for counties that include Genesee, Wyoming and Erie Counties until 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Those areas could up to around 6 feet of snow in the most persistent snow bands through Wednesday, and wind gusts of up to 45 miles an hour will cause blowing and drifting of the snow. Late Wednesday night through Thursday could see additional heavy snow in those areas.
A number of highways are closed in the Buffalo area including I-290 from Exit 6 to the Thruway and I-190, the Niagara Thruway from exit 1 to exit 16.
Check school closings here. There were no weather-related cancellations at the Rochester Airport on Tuesday morning but there were a number of flight cancellations at the Buffalo Airport.
All state and county courts in Genesee County are closed Tuesday as are Batavia city courts.
Governor Cuomo has also activated the NYS Emergency Operations Center. That is to make sure that resources are available to help with any snow clearing efforts.
The NYS DOT moved additional plows and personnel from around the state to Western New York to assist with snow removal operations.
