ALERT: Empty Trailers Banned on Stretch of NYS Thruway Amid Winter Storm

UPDATE – New York transportation officials have announced the ban on empty tractor-trailers along I-90 in Western New York from the Lackawanna Toll Barrier to the Pennsylvania state line will be lifted at midnight, Friday, February 28.

UPDATE BUFFALO: The ban on empty tractor trailers on I-90 in Western New York from the Lackawanna Toll Barrier to the Pennsylvania state line will be lifted at midnight.
— NYSThruwayAuthority (@NYSThruway) February 28, 2020

(Original Story)

Lackawanna, NY – New York state officials have issued a ban on hauling empty trailers along a portion of the New York State Thruway beginning Thursday morning.

The New York State Thruway Authority says the ban will become effective at 3 a.m. and will cover a 66-mile stretch, in both directions, from the Interstate 90 Lackawanna Toll barrier to the Pennsylvania line.

ALERT-BUFFALO: A ban on empty tractor trailers will be in effect starting at 3am until further notice from the Lackawanna Toll Barrier to the Pennsylvania state line due to winter weather conditions.
— NYSThruwayAuthority (@NYSThruway) February 26, 2020

Officials say the ban will be in effect until further notice.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting potential wind gusts to reach in excess of 60 mph.

Winter Storm & Lake Effect Snow Warnings have been issued for parts of the area with locations & warning type in the map below. Additional maps located below with 24 hr snowfall, & peak wind gusts Thu-Fri. Lake effect snow will continue beyond the end time for the snowfall map. pic.twitter.com/Xa1GVZrCru
— NWS Buffalo (@NWSBUFFALO) February 26, 2020

The NWS is urging travelers to proceed with caution as whiteout conditions are expected through much of Thursday.

Here’s the #snowfall forecast for the #East through #Saturday morning. An intensifying winter storm will lift through the eastern Great Lakes, followed by extremely heavy lake effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes. Finally, a clipper system may deliver light snow on Friday. pic.twitter.com/RBZQm1hfYL
— National Weather Service (@NWS) February 26, 2020

NWS is also forecasting much of the East to continue to be blanketed with snow over the next few days, with some areas possibly getting up to 3 feet of accumulations.