OTTAWA COUNTY -
Friday was a day of bundling up and digging out for many in West Michigan.
This first snowfall caught a lot of people off guard.
In the end, peoples saw two to 15 inches, depending where they live.
In Marne, people woke up to more than 14 inches.
It's lake effect snow, even though they're 30 miles from the lakeshore.
Cheryl Morse runs Lil Ernie's Market downtown. Thursday night she didn't take the weather reports very seriously.
"We never really get this much because they always say we're going to get it," said Morse. "It comes from the lakefront, but we got hammered."
Lake effect produces narrow, but very intense bands of snow.
Conversely, in Jenison, there were reports here of five to seven inches of accumulation.
Ryan Rodenhouse from Emerald Landscaping has crews plowing snow all over the area. He said some had it harder than others.
"We do the Jenison Meijer and that area wasn't nearly as bad as this area," said Rodenhouse. "The guys out here (Marne) were taking two to three times as long."
The moral of the story is that when you live in West Michigan and hear the words "Lake effect snow" from the weatherman, prepare for anything.
These are snowfall amounts according to the National Weather Service:
Grand Rapids (airport): 6 inches
Between Walker and Allendale (northwest of Grand Rapids): 10-15 inches
Lansing (airport): Trace
Muskegon (airport): 4.3 inches
Ionia: 5 inches
Sparta: 9 inches
Rockford: 7.5 inches
Grand Haven: 7.5 inches
Dorr: 5 inches
Plainwell: 8 inches
This first snowfall caught a lot of people off guard.
In the end, peoples saw two to 15 inches, depending where they live.
In Marne, people woke up to more than 14 inches.
It's lake effect snow, even though they're 30 miles from the lakeshore.
Cheryl Morse runs Lil Ernie's Market downtown. Thursday night she didn't take the weather reports very seriously.
"We never really get this much because they always say we're going to get it," said Morse. "It comes from the lakefront, but we got hammered."
Lake effect produces narrow, but very intense bands of snow.
Conversely, in Jenison, there were reports here of five to seven inches of accumulation.
Ryan Rodenhouse from Emerald Landscaping has crews plowing snow all over the area. He said some had it harder than others.
"We do the Jenison Meijer and that area wasn't nearly as bad as this area," said Rodenhouse. "The guys out here (Marne) were taking two to three times as long."
The moral of the story is that when you live in West Michigan and hear the words "Lake effect snow" from the weatherman, prepare for anything.
These are snowfall amounts according to the National Weather Service:
Grand Rapids (airport): 6 inches
Between Walker and Allendale (northwest of Grand Rapids): 10-15 inches
Lansing (airport): Trace
Muskegon (airport): 4.3 inches
Ionia: 5 inches
Sparta: 9 inches
Rockford: 7.5 inches
Grand Haven: 7.5 inches
Dorr: 5 inches
Plainwell: 8 inches
