BING NWS on LES
345 AM Update...
Behind the front, a very cold air mass will descend across the
Northeast on Christmas day including snow showers/flurries, with
highs in the 20s and lows in the teens and single digits going
into the weekend. There will also be a heightened potential for
lake effect snow. At this time it appears the flow pattern will
be more southwesterly, which will put the area most at risk into
western NY and portions of the Finger Lakes from Lake Erie, and
from northern Oneida County up to Watertown from Lake Ontario.
Conditions look increasingly favorable for a heavy lake effect
snow event as very cold temperatures aloft,
-13 to -16 deg C, advects across a long fetch of Erie and
Ontario.
Cleveland NWS
.LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
As previously discussed in the short term forecast, lake effect
showers will persist across the snowbelt area for the beginning of
the long term forecast. Current models suggest moderate lake induced
instability and high equilibrium levels will aid in maintaining
organized lake effect snow bands across Lake Erie through Saturday
morning. Saturday morning into the early afternoon, a high pressure
will build over the area from the south, resulting in winds shifting
to southwesterly. This shift in wind should slowly move the greatest
chance of lake effect snow out to the northeast and out of our area.
This lake effect system is expected to persist for over 24 hours,
resulting in a likely significant lake effect snow event. This event
will need to continue to be monitored, as any shift in the steering
flow would result in possible changes to areas impacted along with
snowfall totals. At this point the snowfall totals remain uncertain
with the lake effect precipitation.