Lake-Effect Storm to Bring Several Feet of Snow to Great Lakes

A lake-effect storm in the Great Lakes region was expected to bring several feet of snow in areas of Michigan, northern New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania through the weekend, disrupting travel after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The storm, which began earlier in the week, had already brought more than eight inches of snow to portions of Marquette County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Watertown, N.Y., where less than an inch of snow had fallen on Friday afternoon, was forecast to get close to six feet of snow over the next three days.

Portions of Interstate 81, which runs through Jefferson and Oswego Counties in New York, were within the area of the severe weather.

The lake-effect snow closed 25 miles of Interstate 90 in Pennsylvania from the border with New York State along Lake Erie just north of Erie, Pa., the state’s Department of Transportation said.

Portions of Western New York had recorded 17 inches of snow by about 2:40 p.m., according to forecasters. Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York declared a state of emergency for 11 counties on Friday.