First Alert Weather: Rochester staying chilly, Lake Erie snow impacting travel plans

ROCHESTER. N.Y. — Chilly conditions continue in the Rochester region for Friday, with temperatures maxing out in the high 30-degree range along the lake shore and low 30-degree range in the higher elevations. On top of that, gusty western winds are making it feel nearly 10 degrees colder than it actually is. If you’re saving Black Friday shopping for later, make sure you grab the warmest jacket you got!

Although the Rochester region may be staying clear from any snow Friday through Sunday morning, the same cannot be said for regions east of Lake Erie. Cold air coming in from the west is moving over the relatively warm lake, creating a steady snow band that will persist throughout the weekend. This means if you have to travel west along the Thruway for post-Thanksgiving travel, you will run into areas of heavy snow. Although snowfall totals through the higher elevations south of Rochester may only be a few inches, regions south of Buffalo along the Lake Erie shoreline could see several FEET of accumulation by Sunday night. This means travel to the Bills game on Sunday may also be difficult.

Those westerly winds will shift to the northwest Sunday night, which will bring in lake effect snow to Rochester and much of the rest of the Lake Ontario shoreline into the first half of next week. It is still too early to give an exact forecast for snowfall locations and amounts, so stay tuned to News10 NBC to see how this forecast develops. Two things are for sure though: it’s going to get COLD next week, and Rochester will FINALLY see at least its first snowflakes of the season.