SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — After quieting down for the holiday weekend, winter weather will roar back into our area Wednesday and Thursday as the calendar flips to December.
Where and When is the snow?
This time it’s the counties east of Lake Ontario–Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego counties. In particular the Tug Hill Plateau.
The timing of the greatest impact would be Wednesday afternoon and continuing into Thursday.
What’s happening? First off there is wind for everybody
First off for everyone–even outside of the areas mentioned above…WIND!
A cold front is forecast to plow east through New York State Wednesday afternoon. This will bring all of New York State rain Wednesday ahead of the front, with increasing west winds Wednesday afternoon behind the front.
Temperatures could rise into the 50s Wednesday ahead of the cold front.
West winds will blow 15 to 30 miles per hour Wednesday afternoon with higher wind gusts. Gusty west-southwest winds will blow Wednesday night and Thursday in excess of 20 mph.
Wind gusts could be more than 50 mph near the Lake Ontario shoreline including Oswego later Wednesday and Thursday.
Waves should build into the 10 to 20 feet range on Lake Ontario by Wednesday evening. You have until Wednesday afternoon to make sure outside items and holiday decorations are securely tied down.
Then comes the snow for the areas east of Lake Ontario
Lake effect snow will develop off of Lake Ontario Wednesday evening and continue into Thursday.
With a west-southwest wind direction, the target area will be the Tug Hill Plateau straight east of Lake Ontario.
Snowfall accumulations of a foot or more are possible by the end of Thursday in Jefferson, Lewis, and northern Oswego counties.
Falling snow and gusty winds will produce whiteouts and times of zero visibility in the heavier snow.
Strong winds could bring power outages later Wednesday, Wednesday night and Thursday,