WEST MICHIGAN — It’s no secret that Arctic air has blasted in to Michigan and will set up shop over most of this week. However, accumulating snow will also be a player as we say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014. In short, a one two punch of snow is on the way!
Monday night in to Tuesday morning most of the area will pick up about one to two inches of snow from a weak system coming in from the west. There may be some slightly higher amounts on the order of three inches closer to Lake Michigan, but this will be a quick-hitter…a reasonably short duration event. That said, a much longer duration event on the order of 24 to 36 hours or so will develop Tuesday evening/night and continue through most of Wednesday (New Year’s Day). That system is expected to drop about three to six inches of snow mainly along and south of I-96 with the highest amounts along I-94 at this time. Snow totals along/south of I-94 could be on the order of about five to eight inches in to Thursday morning.
Areas north of I-96 will likely only see an inch or so of accumulation as a sharp cut-off is expected from south to north. Keep in mid high temperatures for both of these events will remain in the teens. That means salt will be less effective in melting snow and ice and more sand will need to be used. With the Arctic air in place, that also means a light, fluffy, powder-type low moisture snow is also anticipated, which means it doesn’t take much to add up.
The attached snapshot is from our FOX 17 computer forecast model FutureTrack HD. You can see accumulating snow still overspreading the area from I-96 southward at 6:00 PM Wednesday. It should start tapering off by Wednesday night as the system pulls away from the Great Lakes.
One more thing, our forecast models are also hinting that even colder air may be coming down the pipe for next week Monday as high temperatures may struggle to reach the double digits. Make sure to stay up on later forecasts. Get more by going to www.fox17online.com/weather.
