Coming as welcome news to residents of western New York who were buried under nearly seven feet of snow last November, the surface of Lake Erie is now covered in enough ice to declare Buffalo's lake effect snow season effectively over for this winter. Hallelujah.

A nasty lake effect snow event is cranking up over western New York this afternoon, threatening to dump several feet of snow on communities from Buffalo to Watertown. Towns south of Buffalo could dig out from three feet of snow from the system, while eastern Lake Ontario could see up to five feet of snow in 36 hours.

More than five feet of snow is on the ground near Buffalo, New York, and a few more feet could fall by Thursday night. Some communities could see up to eight feet of snow by the time the storm is done. Governor Cuomo has called in the National Guard to dig out the buried region.