The big cold front moving into the Great Lakes region, leading to heavy snow in some areas, high winds and gale warnings on the Great Lakes, is also expected to cause a storm surge on Lake Erie − a phenomenon that can leave shoreline locations looking like the lake drained away.

"This is going to be one of the strongest ones we have had in a while, where there could be 3 to 4 feet of water pushed from the western basin of Lake Erie to the east," said David Marsalek, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

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