More Lake-Effect Snow To Blanket Hard-Hit Great Lakes Snowbelts

Lake-effect snow will continue to bury the Great Lakes snowbelts into late week after some areas were buried by feet of snow over Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

H​appening now: The radar below shows areas of snow are still going on now, from Michigan to Pennsylvania and New York state.

V​arious winter weather alerts have been issued by the National Weather Service in the Great Lakes snowbelts for both ongoing snow and the next round set to arrive Wednesday through Thursday.

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M​ore ahead: A powerful cold front meteorologists call an "Alberta Clipper" will plunge south out of Canada into the Midwest Wednesday, then into the Northeast Wednesday night into early Thursday.

G​iven the strength of this system and accompanying jet stream, brief bursts of snow called snow squalls may accompany the cold front as it slices through the Great Lakes Wednesday and Wednesday night.

Together with strong winds both ahead of and behind the front, these snow squalls may lead to sudden, dangerous reductions in visibility and quick accumulations on dry roads. Keep this in mind even if driving in areas outside the Great Lakes snowbelts Wednesday and Wednesday night.

A​s we've already seen in pileups on Monday and Tuesday, these bursts of snow can be dangerous no matter how much snow falls.

We don't expect this second round of lake snowbands to last as long, nor wring out as much snow, as the holiday weekend event. Some areas will pick up another foot of snow, especially in northwest Pennsylvania through early Friday.

(​MORE: Winter Outlook Travel Tips From A Meteorologist)

F​eet of snow last weekend: The first real widespread lake snow event of the season over the holiday weekend dumped over 5 feet of snow in several locations from northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania, parts of southwest and upstate New York and Ontario, Canada.

A​mong the state leaders were Castorland, New York (65.9 inches); Saybrook, Ohio (61.2 inches); Girard, Pennsylvania (59.3 inches); Otsego Lake, Michigan (46.7 inches); and Echo Bay, Ontario (136 cm or 53.5 inches).

E​rie, Pennsylvania, had only 0.1 inch of snowfall for the season through Thanksgiving. They, then picked up 22.6 inches of snow on Black Friday, alone, their record heaviest calendar-day snow.

S​ault Ste. Marie, Michigan, had their record-longest wait for their first measurable snow of the season, which arrived over a month later than average on November 25. But they were then buried by 42 inches of snow over the last six days of November, almost three times the monthly average.

I​n western New York, the heaviest snow totals were in the southern tier counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties where a pair of locations picked up 53 to 54 inches. However, the Buffalo metro's "Southtowns" were also hit with 1 to 3 feet of snow. That included Orchard Park, where the NFL's Buffalo Bills hosted the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night following an effort to both clear out parking lots and stadium.

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Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.​