Weekend Weather Forecast
Cold winds will blow throughout the weekend, keeping temperatures down and lake effect snow in the air.
The wind direction will fluctuate, causing the lake effect snow to bounce around the region. That being said, the northeastern Finger Lakes will continue to be favored for the heaviest snowfall.
Scattered light snow showers will be on and off across the region today. These should have little to no impact or accumulation. There may even be a few breaks of sun between some of the clouds, particularly in the early afternoon.
West winds will blow at 10-15 mph with a few gusts as high as 30 mph. Temperatures will be held to the 25-30 degree range.
Winds will turn more northwesterly in the late afternoon, sending snow showers from Lake Ontario south into the region. A few of these may be briefly heavier than the snow the rest of the day, especially around and north of I-90. Still, accumulations and impacts should be minimal.
The snow will reorganize itself into multiple bands in the late evening and overnight. The heaviest of these is expected to impact far northern Cayuga county and much of Onondaga county, including Syracuse.
Snowfall rates over an inch per hour are possible through Saturday for these areas with significant accumulations of 6-12 inches and possibly locally more.
Elsewhere in the Finger Lakes, additional squalls are expected but should not be quite as intense or stationary. Many areas will see an inch or two of snow through Saturday with a few localized amounts of 3-6 inches.
Saturday will also see an increase in wind speeds once again with gusts near 40 mph. Blowing and drifting snow will be a concern, especially in the heavier bands, where blizzard conditions will be possible.
Temperatures Saturday will start around 20 degrees and only make it into the low and mid 20s. Sunday will have similar temperatures.
The snow bands may lift completely north out of the region early Sunday but should sink back to the south Sunday afternoon. This means more snow for Syracuse and the surrounding areas with lighter snow showers across the rest of the Finger Lakes.
The snow in the Syracuse area on Sunday should not be as intense as on Saturday but may still make travel difficult with several more inches likely.
West winds will remain near 15 mph with gusts as high as 35 mph on Sunday. The wind speeds will drop late in the day.
More of the Same
An area of low pressure will move through the Ohio River Valley and Mid-Atlantic Sunday night into Monday. Precipitation from this system is not expected to make it this far north.
However, this system will still have an influence on our wind direction and temperatures.
North winds will develop Sunday night into Monday morning, dropping temperatures a bit lower. Expect mid and upper 10s for lows Monday with a high just above 20 degrees.
During the afternoon, winds will turn more northwesterly. While there will be a few flurries off Lake Ontario in the morning, this should lead to an uptick in lake effect activity in the afternoon. Nonetheless, only light snow with minor accumulations is expected at this time.
Flurries will persist Monday night into Tuesday, but overall, it doesn’t look at this time like the lake effect will be overly organized.
Winds will kick up again on Tuesday from the northwest with gusts as high as 40 mph yet again.
Lake snows will become better organized on Wednesday, again focusing on the northeastern corner of the region. The snow may become more widespread throughout the region on Thursday.
Both Wednesday and Thursday should be windy with continued gusts of 30-40 mph. Nighttime temperatures will be well into the 10s and afternoon highs barely above 20 degrees.
Additional cold, snowy weather is likely late next week, next weekend, and beyond.
More Information:
» Finger Lakes Weather Radar
» Zip Code Forecasts
» Get the FLX Weather Mobile App
This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected.
C
Thanks!
C
Son’s flight scheduled to land in Syracuse Saturday at 8:30pm and I need to drive from Ithaca. Change the flight?
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Coming from Ithaca to about Syracuse, there shouldn’t be much to worry about. Syracuse itself is more iffy, but the band will be working northward… just can’t tell if it will be all the way through or not by then.