As we’ve been telling you for days, today’s rain system begins to transition from rain to snow in the higher elevations as soon as the sun sets on Thursday.
We’re still on track and on track for this same storm system to continue giving much of Central New York rain turning to snow.
However, forecasting sticky snow remains tricky for several reasons.:
–As mentioned above, everyone in Central New York is going to get rained out beforehand. Even when the rain turns to snow, it will be difficult to stay on the roads due to the previously wet weather.
–While temperatures will drop near or below freezing at higher elevations, it is questionable whether lower elevations will reach or even below 32 degrees. This will make it more difficult for snow to stick to roads at low altitudes.
–That said, snow will initially stick to lawns, trees, vehicles, mailboxes, power lines and decks much more easily, even if the temperature is limiting.
–Snow will stick first to roads at higher elevations and potentially to overpasses in some lower elevation locations.
–The final factor is that there will be less precipitation totals over the northern, northwest and western parts of central New York, compared to more in the south and southeast.
That said, here is my snowfall forecast through Friday:
Total snowfall through Friday morning for much of upstate New York
Total snowfall through Friday morning for southeastern sections of CNY
After the snow eases from north to south Friday morning, expect clouds to give way to a few breaks or intervals of sunshine for a while before clouds thicken again. Thin bands of snow, rain, and Graupel showers will develop over Wayne County and parts of the Western Finger Lakes before sliding east toward the immediate Central New York areas around sunset.
Here are the rest of our upcoming weather makers:
Upcoming Central New York Meteorologists
For more details on our forecast, look below:
Video forecast from NBC3 News Live at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, November 12, 2026
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