Winter Storm Watch Issued For This Weekend

It looks like Winter is coming to Western New York after all.

This morning the National Weather Service in Buffalo issued Winter Storm Watch for the Souther Tier starting Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon.

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH
SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Long duration heavy lake effect snow possible. Total snow
  accumulations of a foot or more possible in the most persistent
  lake snows. Snowfall rates may reach 1 to 2 inches per hour at
  times. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.

* WHERE...Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Southern Erie
  counties. The greatest snow amounts are expected to focus across
  the higher terrain of the Chautauqua Ridge, Boston Hills and
  Wyoming Hills.

* WHEN...From Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The
  hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening
  commutes.

They also issued a lakeshore flooding watch for all of Western New York.

...LAKESHORE FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Significant lakeshore flooding possible.

* WHERE...Erie and Chautauqua counties.

* WHEN...From late Wednesday night through Thursday afternoon.

* IMPACTS...Strong west-southwest winds may result in a rapid
  rise in water levels. Flooding along the shoreline is possible,
  especially in bays and inlets and other low lying shoreline
  areas. Water may spray across Route 5 in Hamburg.

Remember during these watches, use extreme caution if you are traveling in the areas affected.