PHOTO COLLECTION: AP Top Photos of the Day, Friday, November 29, 2024

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.

Singer Taylor Swift, right, and Donna Kelce arrive before the start of an NFL football game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Switzerland's Andri Ragettli competes in the men's Freeski Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Egyptian geese have occupied a stork nest after the storks migrated south, in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Images of cartoon characters Wallace & Gromit created by British animation studio Aardman, are projected at the Battersea Power Station to celebrate the Christmas season, in London, Friday, Nov. 29 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Women try to salvage items from the rubble of a destroyed building in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A damaged room of a house is seen in the Kibbutz Manara, which is located near to the border with Lebanon, in the northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A worker walks in front of a transformer which was destroyed after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Women attend a yoga master class at Shogun sports center during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Protesters pour into the streets and put fire following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Hefazat-e-Islam supporters stage a protest after Friday prayers at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, demanding an immediate ban on International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Protesters show placards in front of Parliament in London, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 as British lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that would help terminally ill adults to end their lives in England and Wales.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A vintage Citroen car is decorated with gemstones at the Essen Motor Show in Essen, Germany, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second right, and his wife Brigitte Macron visit the restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

Syrian opposition fighters ride in a truck in Talhiya, Idlib countryside, Syria, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Opposition forces take control of areas outside Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Presiding officer Caroline Sharkey and Garda Ronan Steede look after a ballot box that is taken by boat to the Island of Gola as voters go to polls the for the 2024 General Election in Ireland, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

A member of staff holds the "Einstein by Hanson" robotic head, which is set to go on auction at Christie's on the Classic Week, for an estimate of £100,000-150,000, in London, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Black Friday was giving way to a white weekend in parts of New York state, with the first big snow of the season threatening to bury towns along lakes Erie and Ontario during a hectic holiday travel and shopping weekend.

As flakes began flying Friday, forecasters warned 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) of blowing and drifting snow could fall in Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario through Monday.

After an unusually mild fall, as much as 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) of snow were possible along Lake Erie and south of Buffalo from lake-effect bands notorious for pummeling the region with snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) per hour. Lake-effect snow happens when warm moist air rising from a body of water mixes with cold dry air overhead.

“The lake is 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius). We’re about six degrees above where we should be this time of year, that’s why we’re seeing these heavy lake-effect events,” Erie County Public Works Commissioner William Geary said. “The outlook for the next two weeks into December, we’ll probably see some more.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency for the targeted counties, allowing state agencies to mobilize resources. Rapidly deteriorating conditions Friday caused closures along Interstate 90, and tandem and commercial vehicles were banned from Interstate 86 in western New York and much of state Route 219 beginning Friday afternoon.

“There’s a considerable number of vehicles going off the road on the 219 currently,” Gregory Butcher, Erie County's deputy director for preparedness and homeland security, said at an afternoon briefing. He said ATVs and snowmobiles were being placed around the county to help first responders if necessary.

The Buffalo Bills called for volunteers potentially willing to shovel snow at Highmark Stadium, where over 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow was possible before Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers. Earlier this year, a major lake-effect storm forced the NFL to push back the Bills wild-card playoff home game against Pittsburgh from Jan. 14 to Jan. 15.

“It’s going to be slow going, there’s no doubt about that,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, adding the heaviest snow is expected to be over by kickoff.

The team, meanwhile, was preparing to play in any conditions.

“We’re trying to stay on top of it,” coach Sean McDermott said on Friday.

“You guys know things change around here quickly with the weather coming off the lake and everything. So we do the best we can,” he added.

The Bills are 9-2, their best start since 1992, and with a win Sunday, they would clinch their fifth straight AFC East title.

Lake-effect snow also covered parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in a system that is expected to last through the weekend.

The area was blanketed in snow by Friday afternoon, with some places already measuring more than a foot (0.3 meters) of snow.

“We’ve got this westerly, northwesterly flow regime and this chilly air mass over the U.P.,” National Weather Service meteorologist Lily Chapman said. “So it’s a pretty good setup for this long duration lake-effect snowfall event.”

Heavy lake-effect snow in parts of northern Michigan was expected to continue into the weekend, according to the weather service's Gaylord office. Some areas of the Upper Peninsula could see up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) of snow Sunday night through to Monday, Chapman said.

Gusty winds, especially near the Great Lakes, have impacted visibility, and Chapman urged caution on the roads.

Another weather service meteorologist, Joe DeLizio, said he hadn’t been made aware of any major accidents so far.

“Haven’t heard too much as far as problems, but obviously travel is pretty difficult,” DeLizio said.

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed from Orchard Park, N.Y. Isabella Volmert contributed from Lansing, Michigan and and Joey Cappelletti from Sawyer, Michigan.

FILE - A stadium worker clears snow from seats before an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)