Syracuse, N.Y. — The forecast for the Thanksgiving weekend for Central New York just keeps getting worse for travelers.
The National Weather Service has now upgraded the region to a lake effect snow warning, the most severe alert, from 1 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.
“Heavy lake effect snow is expected, (with) total snow accumulations between 7 and 15 inches,” the warning said. “Winds gusting as high as 40 mph will produce blowing and drifting snow.”
The latest warning applies to Madison, Oneida and Onondaga counties. Similar warnings had already been posted for more than a dozen counties in Western New York and the North Country.
One big caveat: Lake effect snow falls in narrow bands, and even a slight shift in wind direction can mean the difference between getting dusted or buried by snow. The official weather service forecast reflects this, predicting between 2 and 9 inches in Syracuse, while the northern suburbs and southern Oswego County could get 12 to 18 inches.
On Thanksgiving Day, Central New York will see strong wind gusts and temperatures in the 30s, but little snow. As winds shift Thursday night, the snow will move down from the North Country and into Central New York.
By daybreak Friday, there’s likely to be an inch or two of snow on the ground in the Syracuse area. The snow is expected to ramp up Friday morning and could fall heavily most of the day. Snowfall rates could reach a blinding 1 to 2 inches per hour.
The snow is expected to continue into Friday night and taper off by Saturday morning.