GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Temperatures started off the day Thursday around 40°, with highs in the upper 40s expected around West Michigan. However, today will likely be the last day with above-average temperatures from now through the Thanksgiving weekend.
After a batch of scattered showers moved through overnight, dry conditions will prevail through most of the daytime Thursday. An area of rain showers will move back into West Michigan late in the day from south to north, giving most of the region some additional rain mainly in the evening.
A cold front will move gradually across the Great Lakes Thursday night through early Friday. As that happens, cooler air will try to arrive in time to change rain showers over to snow in spots. But, it appears that most areas will be seeing precipitation come to an end as temperatures drop into the 30s, so not much snow is likely on Friday.
Dry air will continue to develop during the day Friday, possibly allowing for a little sunshine late in the day. Temperatures will drop into the 30s and hold fairly steady in the upper 30s to near 40° in the afternoon.
Another cold front will arrive early Saturday morning, generating a few light snow showers. The real impact, however, will be felt the rest of the day Saturday, as cold and windy conditions develop along with some lake-effect snow showers.
The very cold air will bring the potential for accumulating snow in the lake-effect snowbelts with winds out of the northwest. That will keep most of the snow west of a line from Muskegon to Sturgis. Inland areas will see much less snow, but still very cold and breezy conditions over the weekend. Snow should peak Saturday night and taper off a bit on Sunday. It’s too early to forecast snow amounts in great detail, but it’s safe to say that the heaviest lake-effect bands could see several inches.
We’ll continue to update the forecast, so keep checking the Weather page as we get into the weekend, as well as watching FOX 17 News for more information.
