Map Shows New York Cities That Could Get Up to 5 Feet of Snow

A major snowstorm is barreling toward New York, with some areas bracing for up to five feet of snowfall.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued lake effect snow warnings for several counties in upstate New York, predicting significant snowfall through the weekend. Lake effect snow occurs when cold air, often originating from Canada, moves across the open waters of the Great Lakes.

Up to 5 feet (64 inches) of snow could fall in Watertown, New York, this weekend the NWS has said. Meanwhile, 3 to 4 feet is expected in western Chautauqua and southern Erie counties, as well as southeastern and southwestern St. Lawrence, and 1 to 2 feet in Buffalo, Allegany County and Genesee County on Saturday.

The NWS has warned that the snowfall could lead to dangerous travel conditions and poor visibility on roads.

"Travel will be very difficult to impossible with deep snow cover on roads and extremely poor visibility. The hazardous conditions will impact the Friday morning and evening commutes," the NSW said on its website.

By Sunday, heavy snow will likely move south into Oswego County.

"This is going to be a long-fused event," NWS Buffalo lead forecaster Kirk Apffel told FOX Weather. "We're looking for Friday through at least Monday, there's going to be snow in the area." The warnings are in place from 7 a.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Monday.

Newsweek has reached out to the NWS via email for comment on Friday morning.

Map showing expected snowfall in parts of New York this weekend. A major snowstorm is barreling toward the state, with some areas bracing for up to five feet of snowfall. National Weather Service

It comes amid a torrent of winter weather across the country this week, with nine Southern states under freeze warnings, including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina. Parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are also under lake effect snow warnings.

Multiple states in the West were also under winter weather warnings this week, with snow projected for California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire and New Mexico also have winter weather warnings.

Meanwhile, freezing temperatures are expected in the Northern Plains states this weekend. In some parts of North Dakota, wind chill temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero are expected, with low temperatures forecast to be around 10 degrees below zero, a far cry from the region's typical low temperatures for this time of year, which are usually in the teens.

"The cold blast will feel like January and will deliver a significant shock to hundreds of millions of people who may have gotten used to warm conditions during much of the autumn," AccuWeather lead long-range meteorologist Paul Pastelok said earlier this week.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, meteorologist Ryan Maue wrote on Wednesday that about two thirds of the U.S. population will be "freezing or colder" this weekend.