By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Lake effect snow is primarily targeting ski country well south of Buffalo and areas east of the city off Lake Ontario. A lake effect snow warning continues through 5:00 Tuesday afternoon for Southern Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Wyoming and Allegany Counties. A snow and blowing snow advisory was issued for Orleans and Genesee Counties through 1:00pm Tuesday.
Snow showers in the immediate Buffalo area will accumulate one to three inches by Tuesday morning. But one to two feet could fall in bands of lake effect snow well south of Buffalo through Tuesday. The forecast calls for five to nine inches in the snow advisory areas off Lake Ontario.
The winds are still strong, resulting in blowing snow in areas of lake effect snow.
On Sunday, a widespread snowfall accumulated about four inches across Western New York. Most of that melted away by above-freezing temperatures later Sunday.
The icy weather has claimed at least one life. Police in Cattaraugus County say 18-year-old Deanna Rawlings of Springville was killed Sunday when her car slid into the path of another vehicle on a rural road south of Buffalo. A 16-year-old girl riding in her car was injured. A family of five were riding in the other vehicle. They were taken to a local hospital for observation.
The snowy conditions may also have played a role in an accident involving an Amherst police car and a pick-up truck On Transit Road near Clarence Center Road early Sunday. Police say Officer Thomas Brown was treated and released for a cut to the head and bruises at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital.