This morning, it was a cold 14° at 6 a.m. Yesterday, there was lots of sun, with a high of 31° and a low of 14°. We should experience fairly tame weather this week, with an occasional snow shower and temperatures near or slightly above normal. The upcoming weekend, our pattern switches to unsettled weather, with rain, snow, and freezing rain in the forecast.
Wind Advisory
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM EST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central, southwest, and west central Michigan. * WHEN...From 10 AM this morning to 8 PM EST this evening. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
Weather History
1967: Chicago’s greatest snowstorm on record also extends into Lower Michigan, where Battle Creek records 28.6 inches of snow. The storm total at Lansing is 23 inches and 18 inches at Grand Rapids.
1994: A snow and ice storm brings travel to a halt across Lower Michigan. Freezing rain causes widespread power outages and results in 5 million dollars in damage.
On January 27, 1967, a blizzard hit the Saginaw Valley, Thumb and Flint areas. By the time the snow ended, 23.8 inches of snow had piled up in Saginaw, and Flint was buried under 22.7 inches of snow! This storm was the biggest snowfall in Flint and Saginaw history.
On January 27, 2002, the daytime temperature rose to 56 degrees in Flint, setting the record high for this day. Curiously enough, the very next year on this day (January 27, 2003), the temperature fell to -11 degrees, setting the record low for the day.
Forecast Discussion
- Windy with snow and blowing snow today A fast moving cold front is poised to move to the Straits by 00z tonight. A strong pressure gradient between the front and high pressure over the southern Plains will create strong winds aloft today. A 60 kt LLJ is progd ahead of the frontal boundary this afternoon and Bufkit wind profiles point toward mixing into the 45-50 kt wind layer. If this can be realized, we`ll see wind gusts of at least 45 mph which may result in a few power outages. No changes planned to the Wind Advisory which is in effect from 10 am until 8 pm today. Light snow is also progd to accompany the frontal boundary. QPF and snow ratios around 11:1 would lead to half inch to inch accums this afternoon and evening before the snow ends and is supported by the ECMWF ensemble mean totals. The snow coupled with the strong winds will lead to some blowing and drifting this afternoon. - Clipper brings a chance of snow Tuesday The next system is a clipper that will track from northern Alberta to the Straits by 00s Wednesday. Models have been pretty consistent on the track of the low. As is typical of clippers, light snow will break out ahead of it and impact the northern portion of the cwa Tuesday afternoon and evening. Accums in the 1-4 inch range are likely given specific humidities of 2-3 g/kg. It`s possible some light snow could develop Wednesday too as the upper short wave behind the surface low moves across the region. That synoptic snow would be aided by a brief period of lake effect as h8 temps fall to -15c behind the wave. - Chance of freezing rain Friday night and Saturday Confidence is fairly high that we`ll see a southern stream system move from Texas toward the northern Ohio Valley Friday; models have been showing that for a couple of days. What a lower confidence is whether we`ll see freezing rain out of it. Certainly, there will be a push of warmer air ahead of the system as is typically the case. It also appears as though we`ll see a northeast wind flow from Ontario on the north side of the low track which will feed colder air into the cwa. The question becomes whether the cold air will be deep enough to generate mostly snow over the northern half of the cwa, or whether there will be just enough of a warm punch in the lower levels to produce some freezing rain. Ensembles indicate a 20-30 percent chance of freezing rain over the northeast cwa and a 10-20 percent chance across the rest of the cwa Friday night and Saturday morning. We`ll probably see some rain move in from the south Friday morning and mix with snow over the northern half of the cwa. Then, as colder air flows southwest from the high to the north, the precipitation will begin to change to snow and perhaps some freezing rain late Friday/early Saturday. Some travel impacts are possible with this system and we`ll continue to monitor it.
Wind Advisory til 8p. The wind finally increased to advisory level here 10 minutes ago.
Wow, what a storm! Heavy snow, wind and cold! Incredible!
Winter Weather Advisory for Oceana, Newaygo and Mecosta and points north!
Could it be another overproducer? I already have an inch of new snow!!!
Funny when the warm weather nuts start saying winter is over – what happens? It snows! Happens every single year! Get ready for the snow – it is almost here! Wow!
Breaking>>>>no pattern change is coming, after a brief warm up it is right back to near to below normal temps and multiple snow chances! What a winter!
More facts Jack Cooldest January since 1988 for Michigan wow to the wow I so believe it!! It’s been crazy crakers cold!! I’m currently in Boyne mountain the snow on the ground up here is up to my waist along the roads it’s incredible deep and its snowing currently with wind white out conditions currently great crackers….INDY
That is false. There have been several colder Januarys just recently.
Correct Indy! A cold and snowy January – that is for sure keep the facts rocking!!
Seeing how the warm weather nuts are obsessed with the CPC maps – Ck out all of this potential snow! Incredible!
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/WK34/
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead14/
GR has been getting hammered with lake effect snow – multiple times they had events of6 inches or more! What a winter and more come! We are just getting g started! Multiple snowstorms and a polar vortex already – Wow!!! What a winter!
The biggest snowstorm we saw in January was 3″. Let that sink in.
lol!
It’s beautiful! Huge pattern change!
What a winter! Incredible!
Active storm track for mi?
Yes and February is going to be wild! Tons of snow is coming despite the warm weather nuts constantly trying to say a mild dry, winter! Some things never change! January was a cold wild month and February will be more of the same, only more SNOW! Wow, just wow, WOW!!!!!
Does January end up below average snow again? It will be close…
Nice warmup. Snow melting and rain mixing in? Hope you enjoyed your 3 week winter!
Breaking>>>>the mid and long range CPC outlooks still look good for tons of SNOW in Feb! Bring it! Rock n roll will never die!
THE GRAND RAPIDS CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 26 2025
The H/L was 30/19 the was a trace of snowfall the snow depth was 4” the highest wind speed was 33 MPH out of the W. The sun was out 52% of the possible time. For today the average H/L is 31/17 the record high of 62 was in 1916 the coldest high of 7 was in 1918 the record low of -12 was in 2003 the warmest low of 28 was in 2002. The record snowfall of 12.2” was in 1967 the most on the ground was 27” in 1978.
Slim