Message from County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens:
The National Weather Service is not catching this yet, but I expect that driving conditions from tomorrow afternoon through Sunday morning will be treacherous. Forecast is for wind gusts up to 37 mph and lake effect snow off and on for and additional 3-5 inches. Most of the County has between 20 and 36 inches of snow on the ground. The snow and wind combined with the high snowbanks is going to create whiteout conditions in open areas. All of this will create blizzard-like conditions.
The National Weather Service is covering the dangerous cold and wind chill, but have not yet highlighted the problems with blowing snow.
I am expecting driving conditions to deteriorate rapidly tomorrow afternoon. I suspect there will be plenty of people attempting to travel out for Valentine's Day dinner and other activities. At this point, I recommending extreme caution. Anyone caught in a whiteout or off the road could have serious problems if they are not equipped to handle the extreme wind chills we will be experiencing - -currently projecting -35°F.
