First Alert Weather: The extensive blowing and drifting snow will diminish tonight

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A strong cold front and low-pressure system passed across Western New York today.

As a result, most of the area was buffered by winds that were gusting to near 50 mph. This produced extensive blowing and drifting snow, especially in the open areas. Reports of very poor visibility and near-ground blizzards were common, particularly on north-south roadways. Fortunately, the winds are expected to slowly diminish during the overnight. Tonight look for the lake snow showers to taper off before midnight with any new snowfall amounts limited to less than an inch. The low temperature will be near 10 degrees.

High pressure is expected to build in across the northeast for the second half of the weekend. That means improving weather conditions with less wind and chill for Rochester. Sunday will bring partly to mostly sunny skies with a high temperature in the low to mid-40s. The mild weather will continue for Presidents Day with temperature readings still in the middle 40s. Look for more clouds for Monday with maybe a few sprinkles of rain by late afternoon. The News10NBC First Alert meteorologists expect more melting and dripping off the snow and ice as the warmth will continue into Tuesday. The expected high temperature will be in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees.

The mild weather is forecast to come to an end by mid-week. A cold front will move across Western New York by Wednesday. That means a return to blustery and colder weather as the temperature falls through the 30s. It will be mostly cloudy with passing flurries. Thursday should be mainly dry and chilly with the temperature in the mid-20s.

There is the potential for winter weather returning for Thursday night and Friday. Still a great amount of uncertainty on the track of the storm, but snow is possible with a mix of sleet or freezing rain at times. The temperature will rise into the low 30s.

Stay tuned with News 10 NBC for the latest update on the weather forecast for the end of the week.

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