New snow fall and slushy conditions cause hazardous driving situations. Here are a few useful tips on avoiding being hit or crashing your vehicle. Tina MacIntyre-Yee and Sarah Taddeo
The next winter storm could bring sleet, freezing rain and up to 17 inches of snow to lakeside communities in Monroe and surrounding counties.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo said the storm is expected to reach the area Friday afternoon and issued a winter storm warning for Monroe, Wayne, Genesee, Ontario and Livingston counties for a 24-hour span through Saturday afternoon. The heaviest of the predicted "widespread snow" is expected overnight, said weather service meteorologist Shawn Smith.
Travel will be "very difficult to impossible" Friday night and early Saturday, according to the weather service.
"Everyone will get a decent amount of snow," said weather service meteorologist David Thomas. Lakeside communities including Webster, Irondequoit and Greece are poised to see around 17 inches as lake-enhanced snow falls at the tail end of the storm Saturday, he said.
Most of the Rochester region should see between 9 and 14 inches of snow fall in the 24-hour span, he said. Less snow is expected south and east of Rochester.
Forecasters predict heavy snow to mix with precipitation. Ice accumulations of around two-tenths of an inch are also possible in some areas.
Staff photographers Tina MacIntyre-Yee and Shawn Dowd took advantage of the extreme cold to try some experiments with liquids. Tina MacIntyre-Yee and Shawn Dowd
The snow will follow a two-day thaw on Thursday and Friday morning.
The warm weather has melted much of our snow and ice. That, coupled with some rain, has raised the possibility of creek flooding. The weather service has issued a flood watch for the entire Rochester region, effective through Friday.
High temperatures are only expected to reach the teens, and lows will be in the single digits on Saturday.
The average high in Rochester in mid-January is about 31 degrees.
The weather service is tracking the storm, which as of Thursday morning was tracking away from western New York. If that trend continues, potential snowfall totals could decrease, "but if the storm shifts toward us, then we could see more snow," Smith said.
The long stretch of cold has created a frozen wonderland in Letchworth State Park, from ice-covered falls to a fountain turned into a sculpture of ice. (Jan. 2, 2018) Max Schulte
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