I wrote a long post about lake effect snow, but it disappeared into the internet when I hit save. (My account requires a password every 24 hours, and apparently the time between when I opened the editing window and hit save pushed me past the 24 hour point)

If you're interested in what lake effect is, and why the areas north of us are getting a lot of coverage by the weather channel and news outlets, see the Wikipedia article

We live less than 15 miles north of Syracuse, and we can certainly get lake effect snow, but our snow in the last week has been "only" about 2 feet, not 8. We're fine.

The key thing about lake effect is that when it falls heavily, it is almost certainly falling in just a narrow "band." If it's widespread, the snowfall is relatively light. So, you can be fine at one place, but drive 3-5 miles and be in a "white out."

The local paper had a humorous column about cleaning snows from roofs, and (my personal favorite part), how to avoid driving off the road when you can't see. " Occasionally, you learn the sheer panic when the snow blows so hard across Interstate 81 you can't see the tire tracks in front of you. You find the rumble strip along the side of the road with your tires and ride it like a surfer. It's like driving by Braille."

So, we have a sense of humor about it, anyway.