Two New York State Regions Will See Heavy Snowfall This Week

It's officially January and while December saw warmer temperatures than usual, things change for the worse this month, assuming you don't like snow and cold.

The first full week of January will see some very active weather for different parts of New York State.

The key will be lake effect snow and potentially heavy snowfall for two main regions of New York State this Wednesday evening, through much of Thursday.

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A Winter Storm Watch was issued for both portions of Western New York, which includes Erie, Wyoming and Genesee counties (including the Buffalo metro) and parts of Central New York, which includes Jefferson and Lewis counties.

Heavy lake effect snow is very possible off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Wednesday night through Thursday. At least 9 inches could fall in parts of Western New York those 24 hours, but could be more, based on the movement of the lake effect band.

The winds will be an issue too, as they could feature 30-40 mph wind gusts, which would cause white outs and drifting snow, making driving incredibly difficult and impossible at certain times.

If you live in these areas, it's best to not go anywhere during the height of the lake effect band -- which should be Wednesday night and Thursday morning, into the early afternoon.

The problem with lake effect bands is how unpredictable they can be. Slight shifts in wind direction can alter their path and cause more inches of snow to fall in a certain area.

It looks like Mother Nature will be showing up in a big way this Wednesday and Thursday.