The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for parts of Western New York including Monroe, Genesee and Orleans Counties. It is in effect from 4 pm on Saturday until Noon on Sunday.
The forecast is for rain during part of the day on Saturday, but freezing rain a possibility starting late Saturday afternoon. The weather service says that there could be up to a half inch of ice in some locations, and that the icing will vary considerably by location with higher terrain more prone to icing.
This is not expected to be “legendary ice storm” type of ice from Rochester history, says National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Apffel.
"Temperatures are going to be marginal, right at the freezing level, which will mean that some areas will get a lot more ice than others. We'll probably see it more so on the trees, although you will get some slick spots on roads, too, but the biggest concern is for icing on some of the trees, which could cause some power outages."
The meteorologist’s advice? Get your errands done as soon as you can Saturday.
"You probably want to have your stuff wrapped up by mid to late afternoon or certainly as early as possible. As you go through the evening hours, the risk of icy roadways will increase."
As a general guideline, most of the icing is expected north of the Thruway.
"As a rough dividing line, yes, that's probably the best rule of thumb. There probably will be exceptions to that. Some of the higher terrain, even south of the Thruway will have some issues, but in a general sense, the worst of the icing will probably be north of the Thruway."
There is a freezing rain advisory for parts of Wayne, Wyoming, Livingston and Ontario Counties from 6 pm Saturday to 10 am on Sunday, with up to a quarter-inch of ice possible in some locations.
There is still a flood watch in effect for much of the region from Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening. Rain and rapid snow melt will swell rivers and creeks and cause problems in the usual slow-drainage areas. There is also a flood warningin effect starting Sunday night for some rivers in WNY.
According to Apffel, there are a couple of reasons for concerns about flooding.
"We just have so much snow on the ground and we're getting the warm air melting that, combined with some of the rain, both before and after the freezing rain. There is a risk that some of the creeks and streams will flood and there's also a risk of even some urban flooding issues."
Stay tuned to AM 1370 WXXI and wxxinews.org for updates.
