First Alert Weather: Rain gives way to lake effect snow for some on Wednesday

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – We remain on the mild side of a storm system, meaning periods of rain Tuesday night and into Wednesday. A cold front will begin to sweep through Wednesday afternoon, changing any leftover rain to some wet snow in the hilltops of the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier. Expect little to no accumulation from this, but as the cold air deepens, a plume of lake effect snow will quickly develop off of Lake Erie. The heaviest and steadiest snow will fall in southern Erie, Wyoming, and southern Genesee Counties, but some of that band will likely be carried into Livingston and possibly even Ontario counties through Thursday. If you have plans to travel the Thruway, conditions will deteriorate quickly south of Buffalo toward Erie and Cleveland starting Wednesday night. Conditions will begin to improve Thursday night, with most snow tapering Friday morning. As far as Monroe County goes, the northern part of the county should see little to nothing, with a good deal of sunshine. The immediate Rochester area may get clipped by the band early Thursday for a few hours. If this happens during the morning commute, road conditions may become slick. But that is very questionable at this point. If that is looking more likely, we’ll put up a Yellow Alert as a heads-up and check back in for updates. Parts of Livingston County may see a few inches of snow, with some slick roads on Thursday.

For those who don’t see the snow, you’ll see some sunshine, but feel the chill with a brisk wind making temperatures in the 20s feel more like lower teens. Friday will be much quieter but still cold with some sunshine, and we’ll start to moderate our temperatures by the weekend. While Saturday is dry, we’ll see some showers returning on Sunday.