WEST MICHIGAN — Planning a trip to/from the windy city this week? Hopefully it won’t be on Tuesday. LAKE-EFFECT SNOW WATCHES have been posted for extreme southwest lower Michigan in Berrien County and most of northwest Indiana for Monday evening through Tuesday. Make sure to click the link for the very latest!
The potential issue is the possibility of very heavy lake-effect snow. Snow showers will develop on Monday as Arctic air plunges in to the Great Lakes. Winds will turn northerly and lake-effect snows are expected to develop and become heavy in southwest lower Michigan and especially across northwest Indiana with the northerly flow. Travel to/from Chicago Monday night/Tuesday is NOT advised. Accumulations between one and two feet (yes feet) are possible in narrow bands with as much as one, two, perhaps three inches per hour at times. That also means white-out conditions are likely with substantially reduced visibilities as well.
Most of WEST MICHIGAN will NOT see heavy snow this week, but rather just general light snow showers with minor accumulations each day. Heavier lake-effect snows are possible along the immediate lakeshore as we progress through the week. The biggest weather change will clearly be the Arctic blast (again) beginning Monday, with the core of the coldest air setting up for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
As I detailed in a post on Saturday, let me reiterate that this Arctic plunge will NOT be quite as cold as two weeks ago (highs around 10 to 15 degrees this time), nor will wind chills be as bone-chilling (probably 0 to -15 as opposed to -20 to -30). That said, recall that salt becomes ineffective on the roads below about 17 degrees.
For the complete West Michigan 7-Day forecast as well as wind chills, temperatures, satellite, and radar click over to www.fox17online.com/weather.
