The morning of October 12 saw the first deep concern among forecasters that a large snowfall event was possible. Indications at the time were still mainly that of a rainfall event with ice pellets and some wet snow mixed in. Towards the afternoon of the October 12, a warning was issued by the NWS Buffalo for the possibility of one to six inches of wet snow. Environment Canada also released a similar warning, advising the public that conditions like those found in typical winter LESs were possible, although only minor accumulation was expected, if any. On that day, the NWS Buffalo dubbed the storm "Lake Storm Aphid", in accordance with their naming scheme for lake-effect storms for that year.