WEST MICHIGAN – By late Sunday afternoon light to steady snow blanketed much of the FOX 17 viewing area laying down a quick inch or so. Our live radar (available here) is already showing the precipitation is changing over to freezing rain and sleet (an icy mix) across extreme southwest lower Michigan in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties. That changeover will slowly lift north and east and eventually occur across most locations. Click hereto get a look at current temperatures.
We are expecting temperatures to actually rise during the overnight period changing most of the frozen precipitation over to just plain light rain and drizzle. Areas north of I-96 will be the last ones to see the changeover and will therefore see a bit more icing across places like Newaygo, Mecosta, and Montcalm Counties. In fact, some of those locations may experience light freezing drizzle into Monday early to mid morning before it completely diminishes. We’ve already had reports this evening of thunderstorms and .30 inches of freezing rain and ice across Berrien County. Trees and power lines are already coated. Our southern counties along and south of the I-94 corridor may see the most icing as heavier rain and thunderstorms continue to move east through those areas.
Roads are going to be wet, and secondary roads slushy on Monday morning for the commute. There may be some ponding of water with the snow beginning to melt as temps warm into the mid 30s by daybreak. Make sure to allow a little extra time for the commute. The really big changes and potential issues will arrive a bit later this week. Look for light rain and drizzle on Monday and off/on Tuesday, but heavier rain with even a few rumbles of thunder will be possible Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. Our warmest temps on Wednesday will occur around or shortly after midnight…probably still in the upper 40s before the cold front moves through with a blast of Arctic air. Things will begin to turn windy after the cold front passes as well.
Once the Arctic front moves through Wednesday morning, temps will fall rapidly throughout the day eventually into the 20s and perhaps teens by sunset. Everything will freeze, and that will engage lake-effect snow, especially with a west wind as our forecast models are showing. That means the potential for heavy lake-effect snows are certainly there from Wednesday evening through Thursday and Friday. Several inches could fall, especially along/west of U.S. 131. High temperatures are only expected in the teens both Thursday and Friday!
The attached snapshot illustrates the WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES in effect across the entire area in blue through 5:00 AM Monday morning. The counties that border Indiana in pink are for a FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY through midnight. Get more too at www.fox17online.com/weather. Don’t forget to email any weather related photos to weather@fox17online.com or news@fox17online.com. You can also post reports and photos to our FOX 17 Facebook page. Drive safely.
