Around 8:30 this morning a wind gust of 60 miles per hour was recorded at the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Jon Hitchcock expects the strong winds to continue with the possibility of gusts reaching 70 miles per hour before the day is done.
A high wind warning is in effect until 8 p.m.
"The winds are quickly ramping up this morning. There's already reports of power outages, some trees down and some damage from this already," Hicthcock said.
"The winds will stay up pretty much all day and then start to come down after five, six o'clock this evening."
The strong winds are also stirring up the waters of Lake Erie today. A lakeshore flood warning is in place until 4 p.m.
Heavy rain poured through the area earlier this morning when temperatures were well into the fifties. Though conditions have cooled considerably, there has been a mid-morning break in precipitation.
"Later this afternoon we'll see some rain and wet snow showers move back in," said Hitchcock.
"We might see an inch or so of accumulation on the hills well south of Buffalo."
Today's extreme conditions are expected to subside by tomorrow but warmer weather shouldn't be expected any time soon.
"We're going to be cold the rest of the week with highs in the thirties. Thursday, Friday, into the weekend, we might even see a little bit of minor snow accumulations, even in Buffalo, late Thursday night and Friday morning," said Hitchcock who doesn't anticipate warmer temperatures until NEXT Friday.
"The first half of April...definitely the big story is below-normal temperatures."
