When you hear a buzz from your phone, if you are driving or about to head out, read it over as soon as you can and be sure to head the warnings so you don’t become a statistic on the highway.

Sudden whiteouts don’t occur that often across all of Central New York, but definitely are more common north of Syracuse, due to lake effect snow.

Support from the private sector, weather forecasting companies and the media has played a big role in the issuing of snow squall warnings.

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According to Dave Nicosia, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton, a study done over a 20-year period showed that over 800 people were killed on the highways due to sudden snow squalls.

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