Governor Kathy Hochul today urged New Yorkers to take proper precautions ahead of winter weather expected to impact parts of the state beginning Wednesday evening through Thanksgiving Day and continuing through the weekend. Winter Storm Watches have been issued from Friday through Monday in portions of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, Central New York and the North Country.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

 Let's start with the weather. It's holiday time. It's New York and there's a storm brewing. This is not foreign to us. It seems to hit every time New Yorkers want to get on the road and spend time with their families, and Mother Nature is not showing any mercy once again this year. So let's give an update.

If you're going to the North Country or live in the North Country, we're looking at eight inches of snowfall. Great news for the skiers. Can't wait to hit the slopes, but it's gonna be a shock to the system because it's the first major snow of the season. Albany and West along the I-90 quarter where everybody's gonna be traveling, including my family.

A few inches of snow mixed in with rain and downstate. Luckily, rain only, and coming off a drought that actually sounds pretty good. We're asking people to monitor their local forecast. Make sure everyone exercises caution, but another part of the state I did not mention, is Western New York. Lake effect snow is heading our way.

That's something we're ready for. I've already spoken to the Mayor of Buffalo. New mayor, I said, “We are here. Keep us all on speed dial. It's important that we can help you in so many ways.” I've already put the National Guard on alert. We've also been ready to deploy 5,500 utility crews around the state.

I have hundreds of personnel ready to spring into action from DOT, the Thruway Authority, wherever we need the help, and so we're going to be there on the ground. Something we're very familiar with, we know how to handle it, but again, unfortunate timing, but those who get to stay home, just hunker down, watch some football.