(WJW) – A Winter Storm Watch has been issued ahead of the upcoming rounds of winter weather.

Currently, the Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Ashtabula and Lake counties and more may be added.

The NWS predicts an excess of 8 inches of heavy lake effect snow in those areas late Thursday evening through Monday morning.

NWS says the snow bands have the potential for 1 to 2 inches of snowfall per hour, especially along I-90, with visibility below a quarter mile.

Wednesday starts dry. It will remain mostly cloudy and cool with temperatures around 40 degrees.

The showers will move in from the southwest late in the afternoon/evening and will continue into the evening. Towards the end of the evening the rain will change to a rain/snow mix.

Wednesday-Wednesday evening Futurecast:

From rain to snow with light accumulations between midnight and 6am.

The snow disappears around 7-8 am. There will be a brief rain shower around noon with sunshine later in the day.

The late effect snow starts early on Friday. The west to east wind will provide a strong band all day on Friday. South of this band little to no snow with some sunshine.

Highs in the upper 20s and lower 30s this weekend. This will be the coldest 6-day period at the end of November/beginning of December since 2010!

The snow belt will receive several rounds of lake effect snow. We will continue to monitor the forecast and adjust accordingly as we get closer.

Lake effect snow checklist:

Locations that saw the most snow between late Friday and Monday. The wind direction will be decisive. Lake Erie is still around 54 degrees on this date, the warmest in more than 30 years. This will be a LONG event with the snow bands moving back and forth from west to east over a period of ultimately 5 days. A mainly westerly wind will keep most of the heavy snowfall to the east. Dry air from the west will occasionally weaken the bands this weekend/early next week. Between late Friday and early next week there will be a sharp line between heavy snowfall and little snow in the south.

Here is the latest 8-day forecast: