UPDATED at 2:26 p.m. -- in bold
So far much of Genesee County has avoided the winter storm pushing through Western New York but snowfall and wind started to intensify in the western part of the county within the past 10 minutes.
County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens said it was pretty quiet in the county overnight even though Akron in Erie County got 12 to 15 inches of snow.
"I think the amount of ice on Lake Erie is limiting the reach of the snow," Hens said.
Sheriff William Sheron said a travel ban is now in effect and he is monitoring the forecasts.
The travel ban states that emergency personnel are responding to numerous personal injury accidents and vehicles off the road, so in the interest of public safety, there is to be NO UNNECESSARY TRAVEL.
The wind pattern may have shifted a bit from what forecasters expected as well.
"That's all it takes around here is a little twist in the wind and it goes somewhere else," Hens said.
With the snow band shifting south and Darien, Pembroke, and Alabama seeing increased snowfall now, the southern half of the county could see more snow today. Batavia, Hens said, is still forecasted to receive 6 to 8 inches of snow.
Hens said you can pretty much divide the county into four quadrants when it comes to snowfall. If the storm is blowing in off of Lake Erie, everything west of Route 98 and south of the Thruway gets hit. If the storm comes in from Lake Ontario, there's more snow east of 98 and north of the Thruway.
Hens said he isn't expecting much snow in Bergen and Le Roy today.
"Unless the moisture level picks up and the band expands we may not see much snow," Hens said, adding, "I've been in Buffalo for 47 years off and on and it (snow patterns) still fascinates me."
