Snow to create added travel headaches in eastern Great Lakes region on Friday

A swath of snow will create slick travel in the eastern Great Lakes on the back side of the same storm system that brought severe thunderstorms to Florida on Thursday and drenching downpours from the Carolinas to New England into Friday.

“Unlike some storms at this point of the month, cold air will quickly retreat on this storm's front side,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

Thus, any snow or ice concerns across northern New England into Friday morning are likely to be brief and cause few, if any, problems.

“However, as colder air invades the storm on its back side, a wintry mix or even wet snow may fall for a time over a portion of the Midwest,” Sosnowski added.

The area most likely to have travel delays on Friday will be in northern portions of Lower Michigan, where rain is likely to change over to all snow for a time later Friday morning or Friday afternoon before ending.

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Although an inch or two of snow may accumulate on grassy surfaces, travel problems across this area may still be limited, since snow may struggle to stick to sidewalks and roadways with temperatures during the day on Friday hovering near or slightly above freezing.

Farther south, rain may briefly mix with snow in a swath from western Kentucky to eastern and northern Indiana, western Ohio and southern portions of Lower Michigan on Friday morning before ending, but no travel problems are anticipated with temperatures well above freezing.

No snow accumulation is expected in these regions, either on roadways or grass.

“The same snow and wintry mix may shift farther east over portions of the eastern Great Lakes and the western slopes of the Appalachians later Friday to Friday night,” said Sosnowski.

At this time, the highest elevations of West Virginia and west-central Pennsylvania, as well as much of western New York, stand the highest probability of receiving a few to as many as six inches of wet snow Friday night.

Enough snow may fall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, New York; to make some roads, sidewalks and runways slippery.

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Download the free AccuWeather app to find out how much snow is forecast to fall in your location.

With Friday already being one of the busier travel days of the year, even a small coating of snow on roadways or runways can create major travel disruptions and lengthy flight delays.

Portions of Interstates 70, 75, 80 and 90 that lie within the threat zone may all be covered in snow at some point on Friday or Friday night.

“In the wake of the storm on Saturday, a pocket of chilly air will follow with a brief period of lake-effect snow that may pester locations downwind of the Great Lakes, especially Erie and Ontario,” Sosnowski warned.

However, the lake-effect snow is not anticipated to be heavy or long-lasting, and dry and seasonably cool conditions are set to return by Saturday night and Sunday.