BUFFALO, N.Y. — The first snowflakes of the season are possible across parts of WNY this week.
A light accumulation is possible across the higher terrain of the Southern Tier, but there is even a possibility of a few flakes closer to the lakeshore.
The best chance for snowflakes to fall will be during the overnight and early morning hours of Tuesday and Wednesday.
A very chilly air mass from Canada arrived across WNY on Sunday and it looked to stick around through the middle of this upcoming work week. Daytime highs will be 10 to 15° below normal and overnight lows will fall into the 30s allowing for some of the snowflakes to form
Places like Ellicottville, and maybe even Colden, could see a slushy accumulation on car windshields and grassy surfaces.
It’s not unusual to get some snowflakes in the month of October. Last year, accumulating snow fell on Halloween. And the year before that, light snow fell on four days in the middle of the month. Let's not forget there was the famous October Surprise Storm 18 years ago in 2006, which saw over two feet of snow fall in the Buffalo-metro area on October 12 and 13. More than 400,000 residents were without power for several days that year and more than 57,000 trees were destroyed. Fifteen people also died in that surprise storm.
The cold snap will be short lived thought. The rest of the week looks much sunnier and warmer.
Stay tuned to Storm Team 2 for the latest forecast updates.