Video from FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray shows near whiteout conditions from intense lake-effect snow near Hamburg, NY
HAMBURG, N.Y. – An intense band of lake-effect snow set up Thursday morning over the Interstate 90 corridor off the shores of Lake Erie between Erie, Pennsylvania and Hamburg, New York, causing dangerous driving conditions during the morning rush.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on X that she had declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Jefferson and Erie counties, due to the expected feet of additional snowfall expected through the rest of the week.
“This nuts,” one driver exclaimed on a video shared on social media showing almost zero visibility through his windshield as whiteout conditions persisted.
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED, TREACHEROUS TRAVEL REPORTED AS LAKE-EFFECT SNOWSTORM BLASTS GREAT LAKES
Lake-effect snow off Lake Erie created whiteout conditions during the morning rush in Evans, NY (Video Credit: @JrHank_/X)
The fierce winds began early Thursday morning.
Video from a storm tracker showed these angry waves crashing against seawalls of Hoak’s Lakeshore Restaurant in Hamburg, a local eatery famous for being turned into an ice castle during major winter storm events.
A powerful lake-effect snowstorm is currently pummeling western New York, bringing massive waves to Lake Erie and blanketing the region in heavy snow. The iconic Hoak’s Restaurant in Hamburg, New York, is once again bearing the brunt of the storm, with waves crashing against its walls.
The same winds creating the lake-effect snow generated these huge waves on Lake Erie, which looked more like the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday morning.
The wind was strong enough to produce a seiche, which is a large drop in water levels on one side of a body of water, and a surge of water on the other side as sea levels slosh back and forth.
Strong winds driving a major lake-effect snow event created major waves on Lake Erie Thursday morning (Video Credit: @StormsOnErie/X)
The FOX Forecast center expects the lake-effect snow to continue through Friday before ending this weekend.