More than 4 million people across five states were under winter storm alerts on Sunday as heavy lake-effect snow continued to bury the Great Lakes region, prompting emergency declarations and the deployment of National Guard troops to rescue stranded motorists.

Warnings for heavy snow continue until 7 p.m. Tuesday along the shores of Lake Erie.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Lake-effect snow hit Western New York on Friday and has continued throughout the weekend, prompting multiple counties to be placed under a state of emergency and lake-effect snow warning.

Lake effect snow is slamming the Great Lakes, with seven states from Wisconsin to New York under snow alerts on Monday.

In Erie County, Ohio, a lake-effect snow warning is in place until 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Between 10 and 20 inches of heavy snow accumulations are expected in the north of the county, while between 12 and 24 inches are expected in the south.

Western New York has been plagued with at least three feet of snow in some areas, amid lake-effect snow warnings. The National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York, expected some snowfall totals to top 4 feet by Monday,

Black Friday is giving way to a white weekend in parts of New York state. The first big snow of the season has the potential to bury towns along lakes Erie and Ontario during a hectic holiday travel and shopping weekend.

As biting cold temperatures sweep across a large swath of the US, parts of the Great Lakes face more than a foot of additional lake-effect snow through Tuesday – the latest complication for cities already blanketed by snowfall amid post-Thanksgiving travel.

Cities near the Great Lakes have seen up to three feet of lake effect snow over the weekend. See how long it will stay in the forecast.

Lake-effect snow blowing in from the Great Lakes has blanketed parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, stranding hundreds of vehicles on roads and snarling post-Thanksgiving travel plans for millions.