2025 is swooping in with a bluster—especially in the Northeast, where some parts are set to receive multiple feet of snow in the first days of the new year. The Washington Post and Syracuse.com report that areas to the east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, mostly in New York state, have lake-effect snow warnings in place through the weekend, with cities like Syracuse, Rome, and Buffalo in the crosshairs. This means travel will be sticky not only in the central and western part of the state, but also in northwestern Pennsylvania, northeastern Ohio, and the northern part of Michigan.
Winds are set to gust up to 45mph, while snow accumulation could reach more than 2 feet, especially in the snow bands north of Syracuse in Central New York. Tug Hill could even see 3 feet, per Syracuse.com. On Thursday, New York's Oswego, Oneida, and Lewis counties will be especially hard hit, with the snow set to stretch as far east as Albany. The heaviest snow could drop south toward Syracuse on Friday, and over the weekend, the Finger Lakes region could see ample accumulation. The snow bands should lose steam by the beginning of next week.
"Snowfall rates may exceed an inch per hour at times within the heaviest bands, though that will be shifting with time," the National Weather Service notes, per Syracuse.com. The Post explains what makes lake-effect snow so potentially powerful: "The larger the difference is between the lake temperature and the air temperature about a mile above the ground, the more intense the snow bands can become." An NWS warning from Thursday morning noted that "travel could be very difficult to impossible" in affected spots, as "areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility." (More snow stories.)