Damaging gusty winds ahead of a strong cold front that could bring isolated severe storms to parts of Western New York. Then temperatures plummet.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Storm Team 2 has issued a Weather Impact Alert for the damaging wind gusts and potential for severe weather. 

A High Wind Warning is in effect for Chautauqua and southern Erie counties through 8 p.m. Monday. Wind gusts, especially those along the Chautauqua Ridge and the Lake Erie shoreline, could reach up to 60 mph.

The rest of Western New York — including Niagara, Orleans, northern Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties — is under a Wind Advisory through 8 p.m. Monday. Northern Pennsylvania, including McKean and Potter counties, is under the same advisory through 11 a.m. These spots could see winds gusting up to 50mph. 

Regardless of the exact weather alert, these winds will be strong enough to knock down tree limbs or power lines. Any outdoor furniture should be properly secured or taken inside. 

And even though the worst of these winds is coming before sunrise on Monday, we are going to hold onto gusty conditions even after the cold front comes through, helping to deliver a punch of much colder air for the start of this upcoming week. 

The cold front arrives around mid to late morning bringing rain at the onset. This will make for a generally damp afternoon with some localized pockets of heavier rain. The arrival of this front will also come along with the chance for some isolated severe weather, especially to the south and east of Western New York. Counties like Allegany, McKean, and Potter have the greatest chance of seeing severe weather, with the greatest threat being damaging straight line winds but the chance for a tornado is not zero, it is a small chance, but not out of the question. 

As the front exits winds shift to coming out of the west and temperatures will quickly plummet through the afternoon. By the evening commute, most of the rain will switch over to snow and continue through dinnertime before exiting later that night.

Even after the snow has moved out, our temperatures keep dropping through Tuesday morning. We are waking up to lows in the teens. And while winds will have let up a little, we’ll still have gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range. That will be enough to keep the teens feeling more like the single digits.

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