ROCHESTER, N.Y. – We are tracking a significant storm system that is four days away from reaching Rochester. This storm is located 2500 to 3000 miles away and has not even fully formed as of yet. How do the News10NBC First Alert meteorologists know this? We are scanning the upper level atmospheric energy over the Pacific Ocean and it shows the early stages of this storm development. And once this storm gets its act together, it will be cutting through the Pacific Northwest and eventually moving across the Rocky Mountains. It will then track into the Great Lakes later this weekend. As of today, we do not know the exact path of the storm, but there will likely be an impact for Western New York.

In general terms, we expect there will be a “good side” of this storm and a “bad side.” More specifically, it is the western side of the storm where all the cold air and snow is located. The east side it will be turning very mild and a noticeable warmer for Rochester going into Saturday. This temperature contrast will produce a strong, deep low-pressure system which will produce a significant temperature contrast.  Inevitably the rain will change to snow us, but the greatest impact could be the development of strong winds. Early indications are that wind gusts could push to 35 and 45 mph for Sunday night into Monday.

News 10 NBC First Alert weather is providing this early notification for strong winds which means the trash cans, recycling bins and any loose holiday decorations could be in jeopardy for early next week .