The Lake County Commissioners declared a State of Emergency in the response to the winter storm affecting the area.

Since it began early Friday morning, the lake effect storm has dumped several feet of snow in some areas. The snow fell at such an unrelenting pace that street crews have been unable to keep pace. Hundreds of holiday travelers were stranded on major highways Friday like i-90 and had to abandon their cars.

Lake County offices are closed Monday and drivers are asked to stay off the roads after a state of emergency was declared in response to heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures from a winter storm. The decision was made late Sunday by Lake County commissioners after lake-effect snow blanketed parts of county.

Heavy lake-effect snow hit the region over Thanksgiving weekend, with up to 20 inches of snow still to come early this week.

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

Post-Thanksgiving travel will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region on Monday with more lake-effect snow falling after the region was already buried under feet of it, while cold temperatures remain across a large swath of the United States.