Snow returns to the Finger Lakes Thursday

Slushy Snow Thursday

Just 24 hours after pushing 70 degrees, several inches of snow accumulation are likely in parts of the Finger Lakes Thursday,

Precipitation is moving into the area early this morning but is mostly not reaching the ground yet.

As the atmosphere moistens, temperatures should drop a couple degrees to just below freezing.

A little freezing rain could initially mix in, but most of the precipitation will be snow, even in the northern Finger Lakes. However, the northern areas may only see very light precipitation actually reaching the ground.

Heavier precipitation will fall across the southern Finger Lakes and Southern Tier. There will be a very tight gradient between moderate accumulations of snow and hardly anything. This gradient could be as narrow as 10-20 miles.

The models this morning continue to bounce around with exactly where that gradient will set up, so I am just keeping the snow map I created yesterday, shown here.

A few localized areas of the Southern Tier could see upwards of 6 inches, but most southern areas will be closer to 3 or 4 inches.

The snow will quickly taper off from west to east around 3-4 pm this afternoon followed by a quiet, uneventful evening and overnight.

Back to Rain Friday

Precipitation will return to the Finger Lakes Friday morning.

Once again, a few patches of freezing rain may be possible to start, mostly across the Southern Tier and Central New York.

On and off periods of rain are likely throughout the day. The rain looks like a large area of showers rather than a widespread, steady rain.

A few of the showers could have some briefly heavier downpours.

Warm air will surge into Western New York with upper 40s possible in the Rochester area. Most of the remainder of the Finger Lakes will top out in the low 40s or upper 30s.

Rain will taper off to a couple areas of drizzle Friday evening along with locally dense fog. Areas that see snow today could be especially prone to fog Friday evening with temperatures hovering near 40 degrees.

Another Storm System This Weekend

Most of Saturday will be quiet but another significant storm system will move in Saturday night.

Rain will move back in overnight Saturday and continue into the first part of Sunday.

Some heavy rain will be possible and a rumble of thunder cannot be totally ruled out.

There is still some question where the heaviest rain, possibly an inch or more, will fall. There is a chance this core of heaviest rain could stay south of the Finger Lakes over Pennsylvania.

Temperatures should get a boost into the 50s for a time on Sunday, though 40s may hold their ground over the eastern Finger Lakes and Central New York.

Winds will also become quite strong on Sunday, with gusts of 40-50 mph likely, especially over higher elevations and in the western Finger Lakes.

These details will continue to get worked out over the next few days.

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