While most Americans will enjoy cooler temperatures and pleasant weather, several areas around the Great Lakes will be shoveling snow ahead of dinner. Snow-prone cities along Lakes Michigan, Erie, and Ontario could see their most significant lake-effect snowfall of the season. Winter Storm Watches have already been issued downwind of Lakes Erie & Ontario for late Wednesday through Friday evening.
Thanksgiving travel could be snarled across the Great Lakes Snowbelts, as the FOX Forecast Center tracks what it expects to be the most significant lake-effect snow event of the season thus far beginning Wednesday and lasting through Thanksgiving Day and into Black Friday.
THANKSGIVING WEEK STORM LIVE TRACKER: RADAR, FLIGHT DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS AND FORECASTS
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FILE – Cars drive in near whiteout lake-effect snow on Interstate 79 on December 12, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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FILE – ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 2: An unforgiving lake-effect snow blankets the Great Lakes, disrupting daily life in New York and Pennsylvania, United States on December 02, 2024. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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FILE – ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 2: An unforgiving lake-effect snow blankets the Great Lakes, disrupting daily life in New York and Pennsylvania, United States on December 02, 2024. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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FILE -Dee Rose, 32, an Erie City employee clears snow from sidewalks along State Street on December 12, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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Sarah Belczyak, 41, shovels snow in front of her home on East 8th Street on December 12, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Periods of whiteout and life-threatening driving conditions are expected over the durations of this event.
National Weather Service Offices have already issued Winter Storm Watches for places downwind of Lakes Erie & Ontario beginning late Wednesday through Friday evening. And confidence from computer forecast models continues to increase that Michigan‘s Upper Peninsula will see snowfall that will be measured in feet, all told.
(FOX Weather)
This snowmaking storm will follow a system out of the Northern Plains that is expected to bring mostly rain to the Great Lakes. Snow will likely be confined to the Dakotas and Minnesota, with the potential for a wintry mix by Wednesday, which comes after a first round of snow that will be driven by a fast-moving system out of the Northern Plains.
That initial round of moisture will lift back into Canada some time on Wednesday, but arctic air is expected to wrap behind that system, creating the conditions for significant lake-effect snow in Michigan’s U.P.
The changeover from rain to snow itself could create hazardous driving conditions, although the exact timing of the changeover is not completely clear. Those who plan to travel in the area on Wednesday afternoon should stay updated with the latest forecasts.
(FOX Weather)
By Thanksgiving Day, lake-effect snow will be fully underway across the U.P. Snow bands could be intense and long-lasting. Marquette could see close to 2 feet of snow through Friday, although snow totals will be highly dependent on wind direction.
DRIVING ON THE ICE AND DRIVING ON THE SNOW
(FOX Weather)
Meanwhile, the FOX Forecast center said forecast uncertainty is higher around Lakes Erie and Ontario.
“At this point, the most likely scenario is for southwest to west-southwest winds late Wednesday night into Thursday, placing the first snow bands east and northeast of both lakes,” wrote the FOX Forecast Center Monday.
“Winds are expected to shift to a more northwest or west-northwest direction by Friday, pushing the bands farther south with time.”
Some Snowbelt locales in Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York could see a foot of snow or more through Black Friday.
Be sure to watch FOX Weather for the latest on this developing story.
