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Mark Duncan / AP
Treasa Thomas clears snow from her car on a downtown Cleveland, Ohio street on Tuesday. More snow is expected.
Frigid air blasting over the Great Lakes blew in the season's first major lake effect snowstorm on Monday, blocking visibility and causing massive pileups on icy roads from Michigan to Kentucky.
As much as 2 feet of snow was expected to fall on upstate New York by Tuesday as the storm moves eastward from Michigan, where over 1 foot of snow fell by Monday afternoon, said meteorologist Bernie Rayno on Accuweather.com.
"You can see all of the snow showing up from the upper Peninsula of Michigan through western New York state, all the way through western Virginia and Kentucky," Rayno said.
"It's this west-northwest flow over the lakes that's causing this lake effect," he said.
Blustery winds were forecast to continue over the Great Lakes, causing heavy snow showers downwind of the lakes early in the day but becoming more scattered in the afternoon.
On Monday, strong gusting winds and close to zero visibility were blamed for highway crashes such as a 30-car pileup south of Cincinnati that closed parts of Interstate 75, police said.
Story: Season's first snow in central U.S. causes crashes
Near Indianapolis, Indiana State Police were working to clear 80 crashes in just over four hours that were caused by slick road conditions which shut sections of Interstates 70, 465 and 65.
"People are sliding into barrier walls and on slick ramps," said Sergeant Rich Myers of Indiana State Police.
Winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings, and lake-effect snow watches and warnings were to remain in effect for areas downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario through Tuesday evening.
In addition to snow, strong northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph were forecast and were expected to affect traffic with periods of blowing and drifting snow and reduced visibilities.
While a snow storm blankets Cleveland, a bank thermometer displays the outside temperature as being about 100 degrees higher. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
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Leave a Comment:
Lake effect snow machine a little late for Christmas.
I have seven inches of Lake Erie on top of my house.
When you find a Lake Erie freighter up there with it, let me know.
Any signs of the Edmund Fitzgerald?
LOL on the Edmund Fitzgerald. If one of the unknown ships or freighters shows up on your roof, alert the media, there may be big money for finding it
We were forecasted to get 10-15 inches! Got a 1/2 inch...Lake effect advisory cancelled!
Hey JK try some tip-up fishing on your roof for walleyes, but watch when you use the spud to go thru the ice.
I live in the "Northeast". There was no wind, no snow. Western New York, although it is directionally north-east of somewhere, is not the "Northeast".
Northeast, PA is in Northwest PA. Were they talking about Northeast , PA??
Of course W. NY is the Northeast Rick. Jesus. It's part of NYS, which is part of the Northeast, even if you don't like it.
Difficult concept to grasp?
They said "Northeast" NOT New England! NYS IS part of the Northeastern US, even Buffalo. Not to mention, other areas east of Buffalo got snow as well, like Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton, NY and even Wilkes Barre, PA got a little. Are you implying they are NOT in the Northeast?
I live in Providence which is considered "Northeast" and we have no snow, rain or ice here today and none on the our forecast. It was 28 degrees F at 8:00 am this morning which is a little colder than normal. Tomorrow it will drop into the low teens and perhaps single digits then "warm up" to the forties (when New Englanders wear shorts and cotton sweatshirts!). This time last year, we had over five feet of snow piled up around our property!
didn't you hear the liberals 'it's global warming' ??????
Anyone who attributes any single weather event to global warming, on either side, is completely oblivious of the science of climate change.
It's not climate change, this is seasonal change. "Climate change" addresses many, many, many years of averages. Try to stay comfortable "up there" folks!
There was no wind or snow in New York state. It must have all been in the south.
You must not be in NY. I live in NY and it was windy. There were gusty conditions everywhere. Maybe you live in that separate part of the state called Long Island, where they think the whole state revolves around them.
I know that the Southern Tier of New York had quite a bit. Those people are so used to lake effect snow that they regularly travel in a foot of snow in the mornings before snow plows get out. And a friend of mine couldn't go to "Zumba" at the gym, due to the snow.
Oh, now that's a crisis, lol.
Must be in a perfect spot in Vermont, we got about....a centimeter of snow last night. Temperature dropped off by about 29 degrees (from mid to upper 30's to 10 right now), but other than that, I can still see grass outside.
Great - you had to go and get metric on us. What's wrong with saying you received 0.3937 inches of snow? Just a new year chuckle! Stay warm - it was only 25 here in Arlington, Texas this morning!
Enough with the hyperbole! It is winter, it gets cold and it snows in the Northeast...any questions? The only news worthy aspect of this storm is the snow deficit going into the season. You want perspective? Go to a website of one of the local Buffalo news stations (WIVB and WKBW come to mind) and ignore the national media- you will see that there are no school closings, no one has been found dead in a snowbank, and the roads are plowed as normal. Another good reason to cancel your cable and avoid national TV based media.
Where, exactly, in the Northeast got 'slammed' by this storm? I live in Providence, and we have had only a trace of snow...on October 30th! We have had NO snow, and it has barely been cold...not that I'm complaining! But these reports are BOGUS...as they usually are!
And quite frankly, even if we DID get snow and cold in...JANUARY...why the heck is this news???
Yeah no kidding, right? Hell, it was raining yesterday lol. Sure, it's somewhat cold here now, and everything's frozen over again, but saying this is getting 'slammed' is much ado about nothing.
It wasn't the entire Northeast. Just New York State
Vermont's pretty darn close to NY....that's why I was a bit incredulous. And I live right on the Lake, I can see New York from where I live. =)
This just in: Southern California reports sunshine. Breaking News!
You do know the NorthEast is bigger than just your block, don't you?
They are talking Northeast, not New England. PA got the Lake Effect Snow as well. And you do not live by a Great Lake if you live in VT. You are not even close. Lake Champlain maybe, but not a Great Lake.
I think the media hypes the weather up just to have something to report that sounds important but doenst require any research on their part. We get winter storm warnings in Texas at the drop of a hat!
Ippster,
Lake Champlain maybe
The border between Vermont and New York runs right through Lake Champlain in the north parts of both States.
MSN has had me confused about the weather all week.
"Northeast" =/= a portion of New York state.
A portion of New York state = "a portion of New York state" or how about the "Great Lakes area," since that's way more representative of the area that got nailed by this storm?
Reading these articles they've been hyping for the last three days, you'd think we were buried in snow here in Massachusetts. Or anywhere else in New England. Or in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc. Because of their inept use of a single word, I've wasted close to an hour over the course of this week trying to figure out if/when we're going to get hit by some big storm.
And while, yes, as some people cleverly point out, all of New York is in the Northeast, when you put out a headline of "Snow, wind to ease after slamming Northeast" any reader should feel safe in assuming that they mean a substantial part or even all of the Northeast; not a portion of one state that happens to be in the Northeast.
If the headline read "Snow, wind to ease after slamming South" you'd expect that there were storms throughout a large part of the South, and not just, say, the northern half of West Virginia or the southern tip of Florida.
Well... at least now I've got my ice melt supply for the winter, should we ever see some snow.
It's called the Upper, not Northern, Peninsula of Michigan.
I live in Central New York and got 8 inches. Earlier yesterday I went hiking up north near Old Forge and got over a foot of snow while up there!
You're lucky to have 8 inches!
It was 7 above when I woke up but we don't have any snow yet which is fine by me as long as there is ice on the lakes so I can go fishing.
Hmmm. I live in Wallingford, CT. Haven't seen snow since October. I would love to know where exactly the northeast is nowadays. Enough with the hype over a normal thing that happens every year. It's a little chilly and windy here, but snow slamming us? Nope, blue skies and a few clouds. This is the reason people are so fed up with mainstream media, everything is hyped beyond belief, how about an exclusive interview with a snowflake to get it's perspective on storms. I really am so tired of all this hype, why do I even bother reading it though. Who the heck knows.
In Traverse City Michigan and its been snowing since Sunday .. and still is at the moment ....
I live in the upper lower peninsula. Its funny how 8-18" of snow makes the national news. This IS NO BIG DEAL for us. I barely even break out my shovel for this type of petty snow fall. I laugh when new york gets 5 inches and they shut down the whole island.
I live in North-Eastern Ohio by Cleveland... it's been snowing pretty badly for the past 2 days and the wind hasn't died down. We've gotten a lot of snow -- which is a stark difference with the near lack of snow throughout December and November. Fortunately, the sun is beginning to show through and the snow isn't falling as bad as before.
msnbc.com staff knows as little about proper geographical terms as it does about everything else it reports.
I live in Saratoga Springs NY we have been remarkably free of snow this year, I hope this trend continues!
Rick, I live near Syracuse. You are more than welcome to come over and shovel the 8 inches that dropped in my driveway, not to mention the 4 inches that blew from accross the street.
I got 8 inches but it ain't in the driveway.
TFC:
BAD BOY! Baaaad boy! :-)
TFC:
I don't think you're suppose to multiply by 2 :^)
I multiply by two when I unfold it.
8" near the lakes is not getting Slammed... how to overhype again!
Snow causes crashes. What a profound statement. Yep, I guess that will happen when you drive down the road thinking you're invincible in your SUV with 4wd and GPS and who knows what else to keep you company. I remember teaching student drivers behind the wheel that when the weather changes, the road conditions change. Simple logic. I would have to guess that some of these people having problems driving are the same ones who gripe about the driving instructors not teaching well enough. When will it end?
They were probably looking for an app on their iPhone for winter driving techniques at the time of the crash.
What part of this storm was a slam?? Slow news day at MSNBC
Hey Browns Backer now you can ice fish for walleye up on you roof. Make sure you use the gas powered auger to drill thru the ice, to set the tip-ups
single digits tonite ,, now its 8 degrees and windchill feels like -5 below ,, need to import more oil and gas to keep warm ,,, wouldnt want to drill any here ,, for gods sake . more imports please we dont have enough yet
Living in WI I've been "slammed" by snow a time or two, and I can assure you that after you've been "slammed" by a snow storm you use a shovel to dig yourself out. If a broom will suffice you only recieved a light dusting.
More media drama queens