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York— The first big snowfall of the season blanketed parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan during the hectic U.S. holiday travel and shopping weekend, with numbing cold and heavy snow forecast to persist through the early part of the week and cause hazards in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions.
The snow storm led to an emergency declaration in parts of New York and a disaster declaration in Pennsylvania, with officials warning of dangerous conditions for Thanksgiving travelers returning home.
A blast of Arctic air brought bitter temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average to the Northern Plains, the weather service said, prompting cold advisories for parts of North Dakota. Frigid air was expected to move over the eastern third of the U.S. by Monday, with temperatures about 10 degrees below average.
Nearly 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of New York, Ohio and Michigan and 29 inches (73 centimeters) was recorded in Pennsylvania’s northwestern tip.
“Travel will be extremely difficult and hazardous this weekend, especially in areas where multiple feet of snow may accumulate very quickly,” the National Weather Service said.
In an update Saturday afternoon, the weather service said the heaviest snow totals were expected “downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting areas from northeast Ohio, far northwest Pennsylvania, western New York State and portions of northwest New York state.”
In a phone interview Saturday with WWNY-TV, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state prepared for the storm for days by deploying snowplows and thousands of workers and consulting with utility providers.
