The combination of wind, Arctic air and relatively warm water will create anearly perfect setup for a major outbreak of heavy, lake-effect snow downwindof the Great Lakes late this week.The outbreak will commence Thursday and could persist into Saturday in someareas. The combination of strong winds, heavy snow and blowing snow will createhorrible driving conditions in the typical snow belt areas just east of theGreat Lakes. Visibility under the heavier bands of snow will be down to zero attimes with snowfall rates as high as 5 inches per hour!The heaviest snowfall by Saturday will likely be in the higher terrain south ofBuffalo, N.Y., and over the Tug Hill Plateau in upstate New York. In theseareas, over 3 feet of snow could fall between Thursday and Saturday!Story By AccuWeather.com senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.