Bitter Cold Temperatures Continue; Lake Effect Impacts Areas North

JAMESTOWN – The cold weather is here to stay for the next 48 hours with very harsh wind chills and some limited lake effect for the North County.

The National Weather Service maintains the Wind Chill Warning for all of Western New York until 6 PM Thursday.

The Winter Weather Advisory for Lake Effect Snow also remains in effect until 7 PM Thursday for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties.

After a high of 1 little lonely degree this morning, temps have been sliding through the negative digits throughout the afternoon. We will likely end the day around -3 to -8 below zero.

With very stiff west to southwest breeze near 30 MPH at times, that will bring wind chills down to -20 to -30 below zero throughout the day and tonight. Remember, it only takes 10 minutes in this type of cold for frostbite to set in on exposed skin.

The lake effect snow band that has been hammering the Buffalo/metro area will move its way a little bit farther south this afternoon and impact areas in the North County. The band will not fully make it towards the state line so any snow accumulation there will be very minimal, if any at all.

Areas north could pick up 2 to 4 inches of fresh snowfall from that but some localized amounts ranging from 5 to 8 inches are possible, especially on the higher elevvations.

Looking towards the weekend, a big pattern shift will occur on Sunday, soaring temps back above average with rain showers into early next week. We will make a very good run at 50 comes next Monday.

While snow melt is likely during this time frame, we’re still a little too early to know if this warmup could cause some flooding issues or ice jams on area creeks and rivers. That will be something we will keep an eye on throughout the week.