Intense snow continues, must see video

This is a live blog about the possibly historic snowfall over Upstate New York, up to 5 feet of snow is possible near Buffalo. Our team of meteorologists will be updating this frequently throughout the event. Meteorologist James West has written a forecast for the area.

Still snowing! WeatherRadar shows the heavy snow band over Lake Erie pushing north overnight tonight. Snowfall rates between 1 and 3 inches per hour will be ongoing into the evening. Conditions remain dangerous and many vehicles have been stranded. Authorities continue to recommend that people stay off the roads.

The updated snowfall count shows that Orchard Park has received over 54 inches of snow. Snow is still falling, and this total will get even higher.

The last 12 to 20 hours have been quite a ride across parts of Western and North-Central New York. The Lake Effect snow machine will continue to pump heavy periods of snow through the rest of the afternoon into the evening. Although the heaviest snowfall will start to taper off overnight, there will still be some snow falling, not as heavy and intense through much of the weekend.

Conditions on the roads will remain dangerous and residents are advised to stay off the roads. Authorities are working on cleaning the roads as soon as it is safe for them to do so.

North-Central New York, especially areas near Watertown like Ft. Drum has received 32 inches. These were caused by the snow bands setting camp feeding from the Lake Ontario moisture.

Over Western New York there are big differences in snowfall totals (so far) between places just north of Buffalo and areas to the south of the city.

The snow band is migrating northward and snow has returned to Buffalo. Heavier periods of snow are possible across Buffalo through the rest of the afternoon into the evening.

The updated snowfall count shows that Orchard Park has received over 45 inches of snow. 5 to 6 feet of snow forecasts will likely become a reality after this event is done.

Visibility in Watertown, New York is half of a mile as there is heavy snowfall and freezing fog over the area. Nearby cities have less than a quarter of a mile of visibility.

Many residents across northern and western New York woke up with 3 feet of snow that fell overnight. Our WeatherRadar shows that still about 3 hours later, the heavy snow band is still located from Bennington to Lake Erie Beach and along I-90. Some snowfall rates are still at about 3 inches per hour.

The southern portion of Erie County is getting the brunt of the snow. This will definitely be an event for the record books! Attica in Wyoming County (just east of Buffalo) has received 17.4 inches of snow and counting

Across North-Central New York another heavy snow band is affecting the region. About 2 miles southwest of Mexico about 16.8 inches of snow has fallen from Thursday until about 11 a.m.

Residents in Orchard Park, near Armor Duells, have registered 15.5 inches of snowfall since 6 p.m. Thursday

Our WeatherRadar shows that the heaviest snow has been affecting areas just south of Buffalo from East Aurora to the southwest to Fredonia along I-90. It is producing snow between 2 to 3 inches per hour!

Please drive carefully, heavy snow will reduce visibility to less than a quarter of a mile. It will be very difficult for road crews to keep the roads clear.

Lake snow is a wind-driven event. The evaporating waters from the lakes (as they are still relatively warm) pump plenty of moisture into the atmosphere. Then comes the very cold winds, moving over the lakes and lots of snow is produced.

This will be an event that could match the 2014 Buffalo Metro area snowfall of 65 inches! That’s over 5 feet of snow!

Conditions will be so dangerous that the NFL game scheduled to be played in Buffalo on Sunday has been moved and will not be played in Detroit. Friday’s practice has been canceled due to the weather.