Foot of snow, maybe 18 inches forecast for today
Gene Warner
Updated: 11/06/07 9:03 AM
The National Weather Service now believes that today's lake-effect precipitation
will be an all-snow event, dumping up to a foot of snow on the region, with some
areas in the Southtowns and ski country receiving as much as 18 inches.
As a result, forecasters this morning changed their lake-effect snow advisory
for much of the region to a warning.
"As the band developed over the western end of Lake Erie after midnight, it was
clear that it was cooling the atmosphere more than our computer model [had
shown]," National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Niziol said today. "It looks
like it's going to stay just cold enough to keep this an all-snow event,
although it still could warm up enough to produce some rain."
Niziol stressed that while meteorologists were bracing for more than a foot of
snow, there still were no clear-cut answers on the snow-rain question at
mid-morning.
Forecasters, though, believe that if this is an all-snow event, its main target
will be just south of Buffalo.
"I still feel that the heaviest brunt of the storm will be in the Southtowns
down into ski country," Niziol said, referring to an area from Hamburg into
Springville.
The whole region could be hit, though. The National Weather Service this morning
issued a lake-effect advisory for northern Erie County and Genesee County, areas
that could receive as much as 5 to 7 inches.
But forecasters still weren't sure this morning, noting that a change in the
wind direction of only a couple of degrees can move the snow band 5 to 7 miles.
Any early-November storm dumping a foot of snow on the region conjures memories
of last year's October surprise storm that damaged thousands of trees.
This storm comes 3• weeks later on the calendar, meaning that more leaves have
fallen from the trees. It also means that those leaves that are on the trees
don't have as much moisture and are more likely to fall off once a storm hits.
"There's always concern at this time of the year," Niziol said. "We do have some
concerns, but not nearly as serious as last year."
ADV-WEATHER, Buffalo, NY, brrrrr! Foot of snow, maybe 18 inches forecast for today. 
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