A prolonged lake-effect snow event is driving Winter Storm Warnings for 12 counties across western and central New York, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning of feet of accumulation, whiteout conditions, and dangerous travel that could persist for days.
The warnings—updated Tuesday afternoon, December 30, 2025—span areas downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario, where persistent snow bands can produce sharply different conditions over just a few miles.
Heavy snow and whiteouts are expected in the lake-effect corridors
In the Buffalo NWS forecast area, the most extreme totals are forecast for the traditional “snowbelt” zones. For Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and southern Erie counties, the warning calls for “total
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