Yesterday our high was 35° and the low was 23°. We had .9 inches of snow which gives us 10.5 inches since November 21st.
Snow showers, with mostly minor accumulations, are expected today, but some slushy roads are possible. Colder temperatures arrive with gusty winds this evening, and the roads could turn icy. The snow showers then persist through Thursday. Several inches of accumulation will be possible in much of West Michigan, along with blowing and drifting snow. Whiteout conditions could occur.
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM
EST FRIDAY...
* WHAT...Heavy snow and blowing snow expected. Total snow
accumulations between 4 and 10 inches with locally higher amounts
possible. Winds gusting as high as 50 mph.
* WHERE...Portions of southwest and west central Michigan.
* WHEN...From 5 PM this afternoon to 1 AM EST Friday.
* IMPACTS...Visibilities may drop below 1/4 mile due to falling and
blowing snow. The strong winds and weight of snow on tree limbs
may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages.
Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could
impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes. Gusty
winds could bring down tree branches.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow squalls will impact the Wednesday
evening commute with visibility rapidly falling below 1/4 mile and
rapid changes in road conditions including the I96, I94, US131,
US127, and I69 corridors. Heavy lake effect snow along with gusty
winds develop behind the squalls with a potential scattered power
outages as well as poor visibilities and hazardous travel
conditions Wednesday Night into Thursday.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM EST FRIDAY... * WHAT...Snow and blowing snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 4 inches with locally higher amounts possible. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central and south central Michigan. * WHEN...From 5 PM this afternoon to 1 AM EST Friday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow squalls will impact the Wednesday evening commute with visibility rapidly falling below 1/4 mile and rapid changes in road conditions including the I96, I94, US131, US127, and I69 corridors. Lake effect snow along with gusty winds develop behind the squalls with a potential scattered power outages as well as occasional poor visibilities and hazardous travel conditions Wednesday Night into Thursday.
Weather History
1886: A record cold snap continues across Lower Michigan. Lansing falls to 13 degrees below zero, as the temperature hits zero or below on the first five days of the month.
1941: Three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lower Michigan is basking in record-warm early December weather. Record highs include 60 degrees at Muskegon, 63 degrees at Grand Rapids, and 64 degrees at Lansing.
2009: A narrow band of heavy snow across central Ottawa and Kent Counties drops over a foot of snow from Allendale to Comstock Park. Up to 15 inches falls in northern sections of Grand Rapids.
On December 4, 1998, the overnight temperature did not drop below a balmy 51 degrees in Detroit.
Forecast Discussion
- Light Snow Through This Afternoon An upper-low diving towards the region is driving a surface low north of the area today. The warm air advection wing of this system will keep light snow ongoing today, especially near and north of I96 . Accumulations will generally be 3 inches or less by this afternoon keeping travel impacts minimal. There is a low chance of drizzle or freezing drizzle late this morning into the early afternoon once the DGZ dries out. - Lake Effect Snow, Blowing Snow, and Windy Tonight into Thursday Bottom line up front, have upgraded the current Winter Storm Watch into a Winter Storm Warning from this evening to early Friday. Osceola, Mecosta, and Calhoun were also added to the warning. All remaining counties across West Michigan are under a winter weather advisory for the same timeframe. The first phase of the event is expected this evening when an arctic front sweeps across the area. Surface based instability and strong low-level convergence likely leads to the development of snow squalls along the front. Snow squalls will lead to rapid reduction of visibilities to near zero and rapid changes in road conditions. Of particular concern is that these squalls will track along the I96, I69, I94, US131, and US127 corridors during the evening commute. The arctic air behind the front will also lead to any lingering moisture on the roadways quickly freezing. Winds may gust over 40 mph along the front as well given strong mixing. Behind the front snow there may be a brief lull in snow showers before lake effect snow ramps up this evening. Given low-level theta e lapse rates in the negatives and boundary layer winds exceeding 40 knots these snow bands will be able to reach well inland. Two snow maxima are expected. Northwest flow drives the heaviest lake effect snow bands tonight into Thursday across the Grand Haven to Holland to Battle Creek region, and potentially further east if organized banding persists. Second, as low-level flow becomes more northerly into the day on Thursday, several CAM solutions suggest that lake- effect bands are able to get a Lake Superior connection leading to an additional snowfall maximum across the northwestern CWA and enhance snow across the rest of the warning area from enhanced moisture if this occurs. Snowfall totals will vary across counties due to the banded nature of lake effect snow. Across the warning area a general 6 to 10 inches of snow with locally higher amounts possible is favored. In the advisory area where lake effect snow squalls will be more scattered in the post frontal environment a general 2 to 6 inches of snow is expected with locally higher amounts possible. A deep mixing layer tapping into the aforementioned strong boundary layer winds will lead to wind gusts exceeding 40 mph bringing concerns for scattered power outages and blowing snow in addition to the heavy lake effect snow tonight into Thursday. Travel conditions will be hazardous due to occasional whiteouts from snow and blowing snow along with snow covered roads Tonight into Thursday morning. The Thursday morning commute will be particularly impacted, with snow and winds continuing to affect the Thursday evening commute as well. Snow diminishes Thursday night as surface ridging advances into the area. - Potential for rain arriving Sunday night A mid level low that will be over the Southwest U.S. on Friday will lift out into the Plains Sunday and through the Great Lakes region Monday. Warm and moist air advection ahead of this feature will warm temperatures up enough for rain to be the main precipitation type with this next system. An upper level wave digs into the Upper Plains behind the initial wave for Monday. The upper wave then tracks into MI for Tuesday. This feature will extend the precipitation here in MI into Tuesday. As the column cools later Tuesday and more so Tuesday night, any remaining precipitation will mix with and change to snow. Deterministic qpf values from the models generally support around a quarter inch across northern zones with around a half inch over southern Lower MI. Ensemble values show a fair amount of spread, but at this time potential impacts from this event look low. Melting snow will add to the runoff, so we will have to monitor the water equivalent values after the current system is done.
Im thinking Blizzard warnings coming for tomorrow any thoughts MV’s best?? INDY
Wow!!!! Thundersnow at my house!! I love it!
Enjoy!
This is nuts out at thee YARDOFBRICKS just had a Blizzard a flash freeze and severe Thunderstorm all with in 15 minutes this storm is one for the record books…Woooooo!! Stay safe tonight INDY
Monster winter storm and only the first week of December! Incredible!
Very strong gusts. Just heard the loud crack/crash of a tree coming down. Won’t know till tomorrow 🙁 Plenty of new snow.
We getting absolutely plastered with SNOW!
Just had lightning and thunder
…Strong wind gusts and heavy snow…
At 648 PM EST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong cold front with
gusty winds to 50 mph and heavy snow, along a line extending from
near White Cloud to Coopersville to near South Haven. Movement was
east at 50 mph. Thunder is also possible.
HAZARD…Wind gusts up to 50 mph.
Thundersnow in Muskegon County! As well as near Ludington.
Who loves winter along with cold and SNOW?
DISCUSSION…A line of semi-organized, shallow convective snow has continued across eastern Wisconsin. Recent surface observations from Fond du Lac/Oshkosh and vicinity show moderate to heavy snowfall and visibility reduced to around 1/4 mile in some locations. Wind gusts of 40+ kts remain possible as well per surface observation and regional VAD wind profiles. Given the strong frontal forcing, the expectation is for this line to continue across Lake Michigan and eventually impact portions of central/southern Lower Michigan. Some southward expansion of the line is possible, but this should be limited by much warmer temperatures in northeast Illinois into northern Indiana.
Local TV met said we may get and inch or two between 7 and 8 and then very little if anything after that. Just cold, windy, and slick roads expected.
Not here! I expect 2 inches from the initial snow squall and then another 3 to 4 more by tomorrow evening! Rock n roll will never die! Bring it on!
It has started to rain (drizzle) at 31F here in NE Montcalm county. Not a good combination for the evening commute.
32 here will drizzle, as well.
The NWS has backed off the snowfall amount forecast just a bit. Regardless, a good amount of snow is still forecasted for you westsiders. Multiple factors with this event – wind, visibility, windchill, and hazardous road conditions.
We shall see how this plays out. After this event there looks to be a long dry mild period that takes us almost to Christmas. My guess is if that plays out December could end up warmer than average and there still could be less than average snowfall.
Slim
That will not happen! Forget about dry and warm till Christmas! The models will change by next week! Mark it down!
It has been marked down. We shall see. Looks like there will be 40’s next week and that could last longer we shall see.
Slim
Back into the 40s starting this weekend. I plan on hanging our outdoor lights Sunday afternoon.
When one winter weather headline expires more takes its place lol bring on the storm!
Let’s Gooo!! Winter storm warning…INDY
Incredible winter so far!
+1
BREAKING WEATHER ALERT>>>>my point forecast gives me 6 inches of snow, 20 to 45 MPH winds and temps dropping into the teens! Yes this is a monster storm and it will be dangerous this evening and tomorrow! Definitely WSW worthy – don’t take this lightly and be smart and safe! WOW, just wow, WOW!!! incredible!
The overnight low here in MBY was 24 I recorded a half inch of new snowfall yesterday and there is 1” of snow on the ground at this time. There is a Winter Storm Warning out at this time the snowfall amounts don’t look all that impressive but there could be some wind with this system so we shall see. There will be a brief cold spell before it warms up and rain by Sunday.
Slim
The official H/L yesterday at GR was 31/24 there was 0.08” of precipitation that fell as 1.0” of snow. The highest wind gust was 31 MPH out of the S There was 3% of possible sunshine. For today the average H/L is 40/28 the record high of 65 was in 2012 the coldest high of 22 was in 1895 the record low of 6 was in 1993 the warmest low of 54 was in 1998. The wettest was 1.27” in 1973 the most snowfall of 5.9” was in 2009 the most on the ground was 12” in 1940.
Slim
Already above normal snowfall and now a WSW! It is going to be a wild winter! Get prepared now!