Posted By Jim Teske 1:45 PM Friday November 30th
It's hard to believe as I look out my window this afternoon with sunshine and 40 degree weather that winter weather is only 4 or 5 hours away. Here is the set up:
A cold front has moved as far east as Toronto early this Friday afternoon and will move through Central New York this evening. The front itself doesn't have a lot moisture with it but it is going to get help from Lake Erie and Ontario. Already on the radars a band of lake effect precipitation off both lakes is showing up. The cold front will take this precipitation with it as it swings through Central New York. Sometime around 6 or 7 PM we should start to see some precipitation. It may start as some rain but it would quickly change to snow. It could snow quite hard for 15 to 20 minutes as the front comes through. We may only see a dusting to an inch as this happens but it will happen in a short period of time and we would also be dropping below freezing causing roads to ice up. Gusty winds around this time will also mean blowing snow.
After the front goes through it's back into lake effect snow for a short time. For about 4 or 5 hours later this evening the wind will be out of the west putting squalls over Oswego and Oneida Counties. However, close to or a little after midnight a switch in the winds to the northwest will bodily move the squalls down through Syracuse before dying off over the Finger Lakes close to sunrise Saturday. Right now we are going with 1-4" over much of Central New York but as Mark Chapin alluded to during the Noon show there could be some 5 or 6" totals, probably over Oswego or Oneida Counties where the band stays the longest.
I have painted a pretty gloomy picture for this evening if you have plans however, hopefully you will be able to plan around these weather changes a little better. For example, if you out shopping or dining here in Syracuse you may want to get to your destination by 5 or 6 PM and that way by the time you are done that initial burst of snow is done as well. There will be some blowing snow around after 8 PM but there will be a lull in the falling snow here in Syracuse. Just take it easy on the roads and plan on using extra time . Of course it will be a different story to the north of Syracuse where the lake effect squalls will set up first.
As the evening wears on let us know how that burst of snow impacts your neck of the woods.
By the way, stay tuned to us here on the web and on TV as another important storm heads our way for Sunday with a mix of precipitation.
