BUFFALO (AP) – The first big snowfall of the season blanketed parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan during the hectic United States (US) holiday travel and shopping weekend, with numbing cold and heavy snow forecast to persist through the early part of the week and cause hazards in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions.
The snow storm led to an emergency declaration in parts of New York and a disaster declaration in Pennsylvania, with officials warning of dangerous conditions for Thanksgiving travellers returning home.
A blast of Arctic air brought bitter temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average to the Northern Plains, the weather service said, prompting cold advisories for parts of North Dakota. Frigid air was expected to move over the eastern third of the US by today, with temperatures about 10 degrees below average.
Nearly two feet of snow fell in parts of New York, Ohio and Michigan and 29 inches was recorded in Pennsylvania’s northwestern tip.
“Travel will be extremely difficult and hazardous this weekend, especially in areas where multiple feet of snow may accumulate very quickly,” the National Weather Service said.
In an update, the weather service said the heaviest snow totals were expected “downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting areas from northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania, western New York State and portions of northwest New York state.”
