Here we are entering into another year – welcome to 2021!
We will be starting the year out with a winter weather advisory for the southern half of the lower peninsula. The advisory begins at 11 am last through tomorrow through 6 am.
A wintry mix of precipitation is expected across much of Southwest Lower MI starting late this morning or early afternoon. The heaviest ice amounts are expected along and south of the I-96 corridor, but we could see at least a glazing of ice further north. Snow amounts will generally be between 1 and 3 inches. Ice and wet heavy snow will likely cause scattered power outages and travel impacts.
This has been my fear for our winter forecast with above-normal temps bringing in freezing rain into the area. We could see more of these events until the Arctic air spills back into the area.
Here is the NWS discussion on today’s event:
- Slightly sooner arrival of the mixed precipitation today The precipitation has been increasing steadily upstream in MO and Srn IL with some observations in SW IN already reporting precipitation. High Res models show the band of precipitation forecasted to expand as it moves into the southern zones later this morning. With stronger FGEN and weakness in the stability some of the precipitation could be heavy at times as the band advances northward through the CWA. SPC day 1 guidance actually has the general thunder risk clipping Jackson County. Forecast sounding still point to a variety of winter precipitation types...which is what we will continue to forecast. We do feature about an extra tenth of an inch of freezing rain over the previous forecast...mainly for the southern half of the CWA. This is in line with the latest SPC HREF trends as well. The DGZ may become unsaturated across southern zones for part of the late afternoon/evening hours the the main band of deep moisture lifts north. Thus...varying intensities of the precipitation is expected with this event. By 09z the main axis of lift and deeper moisture will be pulling off to the east of the CWA.
We’ve had a little bit of everything – snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Not too much of accumulation, though. No complaints here.
Hey Mark, how are you and your family doing??
See below. Thanks for asking.
Man, that is just crazy how it hangs on! Luckily my wife who is a healthcare worker got her first Pfizer shot yesterday. In 20 days she gets her second one.
Keep the snow rocking baby!
Rain has pretty much stopped now. Looking at the radar looks like quite a large dry slot moving into the area. The trees outside are crackling in the wind and look like glass.
We are getting pounded with snow as we speak! Bring it on!
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Lol….INDY
HAPPY NEW YEAR’S everybody. I wish everyone has a healthy and safe new year. A special thanks goes out to MV and Slim for all they do for this site.
Wow, just got back home out and it has gotten bad fast! Steady rain that’s instantly freezing on contact with anything, temp at 28 degrees. Everything has a glaze of ice already. Should have been some kind of ice warning out for today.
Freezing rain here. When my daughter left to go home her car was completely encased in ice. She called and said by her place it was snowing and 4 degrees colder.
Snow has now started here. The current temperature is 29. The last report at the airport was 28 with freezing rain.
Slim
Still running below normal for snowfall.. Keep it coming.. I love short winters !!! Next week looks dry !!! Keep the great news coming !!!
>>>>>BreakingWeatherUpdate>>>>>the latest RDB model gives the GR area 2 to 4 inches of snow! Get prepared now! Incredible!
Happy New Year everybody! Be safe. Be well. And a special thanks to MV and Slim for maintaining this website.
+1
Hey Mark, are you completely recovered from the virus or are you still fighting some lingering symptoms?
I still get short of breath easily. I find myself breathing through my mouth a lot. Doc said that can linger for months. Other than that, I feel pretty good. My wife is still not cleared to return to work yet. Seven weeks now for her, I think. Thanks for asking.
Happy new year MV’s best lots of Sprites last night shuuh I hope everyone has a wonderful day …Let it snow let it snow let it snow..INDY
I’m looking forward to when the new 1991-2020 climate averages will come into effect. It will be interesting to see how the temperatures of each season are adjusted. I personally have noticed hotter summers, warmer falls, milder winters (but with a few incredible cold ones mixed in), and cooler springs. But this is just based on personal experience, and I would have to imagine the temperatures will be adjusted slightly higher for all time periods.
It looks like temperatures, total precipitation and snow fall will be up at Grand Rapids. On the snowfall it should be noted that the last year and this year have been way down but it might not have been enough to bring down the 30 year average. Here are the annual mean temperature and snowfall at Grand Rapids by decade 1900’s mean temperature 47.7 mean snow fall 43.7” 1910’s mean temperature 48.0 mean snow fall 53.7” 1920’s mean temperature 48.3 mean snow fall 51.8” 1930’s mean temperature 49.9 mean snow fall 56.0 1940’s mean temperature 47.8 mean snow fall 54.6… Read more »
Wow definitely interesting how the seasonal snowfall has changed over the decades. I would assume the snowfall has increased either because the atmosphere can hold more water now (warmer temperatures = more room to hold water) or due to lake effect and a warmer Lake Michigan.
Side note- freezing rain currently falling… thankfully not heavy at the moment.
As for 2020, the pandemic was and is horrendous, but other than that 2020 was a great year for me and a lot of other Americans! Now let’s hope for tons of snow!
If you mean great year for a lot of Americans weather wise, yes it definitely was. If you’re not talking weather wise, I’m not to sure there are many that would agree with you.
Yes, 2020 was a great year for 80 year olds with dementia obtaining positions of power!
Happy New Year! Good riddance to 2020 a year that everyone will remember but would rather forget. For December the mean at Grand Rapids was 32.4 that is a departure of +3.2° The high for the month was 53 on the 10th and the low was 18 on the 15,25 and 31st That low of 18 is the 2nd warmest low for any December in recorded history at Grand Rapids with the warmest being 21 in 2015. For the year the mean was 50.1° and that makes 2020 the 12th warmest of record at Grand Rapids. There have been 6… Read more »
Thanks for the stats Slim! It was a very mild, mostly snowless, and an exceptionably sunny year! Record wise I would say breaking the record of latest inch of snow had to be the most impressive of the year.