BUFFALO, N.Y. — Earlier this week Storm Team 2 introduced brand new, region-specific seven-day forecasts to better accommodate the unique regions across Western New York and they varying weather conditions each can have on a daily basis.
Here's what you need to know about this change you will see on air and online.
First, the setup. These seven-day forecasts will still air at the end of each longer forecast in Channel 2 newscasts. But instead of one seven-day forecast for all of Western New York, there will be four seven-day forecasts displayed across two slides specific to four regions that make up Western New York. Those are: Niagara/Orleans, Buffalo, the Southtowns, and the Southern Tier.
A description of those regions and some relevant towns is described further down this page.
The first seven-day zone forecast that will be shown is for Niagara/Orleans and Buffalo. The row on top will be the seven-day zone forecast for Niagara/Orleans, and the row beneath it will be the seven-day zone forecast for Buffalo. The rows will appear from top to bottom as well to differentiate the two. This example below is from Wednesday, Sept. 7.
The second seven-day zone forecast that will be shown after the first is for the Southtowns and Southern Tier (see image below). The row on top will be the seven-day zone forecast for the Southtowns, and the row beneath it will be the seven-day zone forecast for the Southern Tier. The rows will again appear from top to bottom as well to differentiate the two. This example below is from Wednesday, Sept. 7.
And here is a brief guide as to which areas fit into each zone:
- Niagara/Orleans Zone: This zone included Niagara and Orleans counties, as well as Grand Island and towns north of Buffalo outside of Erie County, such as Batavia in Genesee County.
- Buffalo Zone: This zone includes the city itself, such as the Northtowns, Lackawanna, West Seneca, northern Erie County east of the city, and portions of Genesee County.
- Southtowns Zone: This zone includes towns along and south of 20A in Erie County, such as Orchard Park, East Aurora, and all of Wyoming County.
- Southern Tier Zone: This zone includes all of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties. For on-air purposes, this is also McKean and Potter counties in northern Pennsylvania, but those counties can get a region specific forecast in the Storm Team 2 Weather App.
It's best to identity beforehand where your town is located and what zone it may fit into to direct your attention to the right seven-day zone forecast as it appears in weathercasts. There will be extra time spent presenting the two seven-day zone forecast graphics as well.
While there may only be subtle differences in each seven-day throughout most of the year, these new zone-specific forecasts will come in handy when forecasting complex weather events. The foremost example for Western New York is lake effect snow, where the Southern Tier could be impacted by snow showers for a day or two, with dry and clear weather across Niagara and Orleans counties.
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