A lake-effect storm blanketed parts of the Great Lakes region with snow on Friday, closing highways on one of the biggest travel weekends of the year and prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York to declare a state of emergency in 11 counties.

An intense lake effect snow event was getting underway Friday morning, a storm expected to hammer parts of the Great Lakes region, including Upstate New York — plastering lakeside communities with up to 5 feet of snow.

Travel was considered impossible along parts of Interstate 90 as feet of snow piled up in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Bands of heavy lake-effect snow developed along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.