The lake-effect storm is expected to dump up to four feet of snow in Buffalo by Sunday, and the National Weather Service has warned it has the potential to “paralyze the hardest-hit communities” in and around Western New York.
But Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson tells CP24 that southwesterly winds throughout the weekend should mean the GTA will be largely sheltered from the brunt of the storm.
Lake-effect snow develops when cold air flows over the warmer waters of the Great Lakes.  It can result in up to five to eight centimeters of snow per hour, but it tends to be very localized.
“We will miss most of this event, but it is important to know that if you are planning to travel today and over the weekend to the Niagara Peninsula or as far north as the Bruce Peninsula or the Parry Sound area, these conditions will be much worse from what we’re experiencing in Toronto,” Coulson said.  “Well, what we’re seeing here, it’s not really anything in Toronto itself, but in other parts of southern Ontario and Western New York this is going to be a very significant snowfall event.”
Environment Canada has already issued a snowstorm watch for the Niagara region, warning of 30 to 60 centimeters of snow and “near zero” visibility in some areas.
The weather service has also issued a handful of other watches and warnings for other areas of southern Ontario, including Grey-Bruce County, where it says 50 to 80 centimeters of snow could fall between now and Sunday, and Barrie where up to 25 cm of snow could fall.
“This is all driven by what the low-level winds are doing and as long as they remain from the southwest or west southwest, those bands can lock in and cause significant accumulations of snow over a period of time,” Coulson warned on Friday.
The following areas are currently under snowfall watches or warnings:


	Barrie – Orillia – Midland  		Brockville – Leeds and Grenville  		Burk’s Falls – Bayfield Inlet  		Dunnville – Caledonia – Haldimand  		Gray – Bruce  		Huron – Perth  		Kingston – Prince Edward  		Niagara  		Parry Sound – Muskoka  		Simcoe – Delhi – Norfolk