It's hard to believe that it was near 80 degrees in Western New York, just a week and a half ago. Those summer-like temperatures soon gave way to more seasonable air this past week and now, we are about to see below normal temperatures by the end of this week.

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Erie, Genesee and Wyoming counties from Thursday evening through Sunday evening. There will be a Winter Storm Watch starting tomorrow evening for Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties and lasting through Thursday evening.

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By now, you probably know a ton of lake effect snow has the potential to fall in Western New York, as the warmth of Lake Erie helps drive the lake effect machine this weekend.

It looks like at least 1-2 feet of snow will fall in the City of Buffalo and just barely south of the metro, where the epicenter of the band should spend its most time, but AccuWeather's lake effect snowstorm outlook, which was released around 12 pm on Tuesday, paints a potentially bleaker picture than just a foot or two of snowfall.

AccuWeather's winter weather experts are now predicting anywhere from 4-6 feet of snow will fall in the most persistent snow band, which looks to be the City of Buffalo and just south.

2-4 feet just north and south of that epicenter, while another 1-2 feet in areas like portions of the southern tier and near Niagara County.

AccuWeather is predicting a potentially historic lake effect snow event will take place from Thursday evening through Sunday, which will rival the November of 2000 single-day and night snow total of 24 inches in the City of Buffalo and even approach November of 2014, which has been deemed "Snowvember" by Western New York residents.

Experts say this storm will cause dangerous driving conditions and nobody should be traveling on Friday or Saturday, unless they absolutely have to. Those who do drive should take an emergency kit with them.

With this much snow, there's the risk of road closures as well.

The scary part of this event is that is an "event." The worst of the storm will last around 48 hours and the entirety of the Winter Storm Watch will go 72 hours.

Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

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