WEST MICHIGAN — (FOX 17) — After a relatively quiet day Thursday and some lake-effect snow Thursday evening, the weather is going to take another turn for the worse during the day on Friday.
Most of West Michigan is under a winter storm warning from 1AM Friday until 7AM Saturday. This was issued for not only snow and blowing snow but dangerous wind chills as well.
The first winter weather hazard will be cold wind chill values in the morning, as winds continue to increase overnight tonight. This image from our in-house computer model, Future Track, shows temperature and wind chill first thing in the morning. Most areas will feel like it’s below zero, with areas along and south of I-94 having wind chills as cold as 20 below. Many schools in these areas have already called off classes for Friday. For the complete list of closings, click HERE.
The next problem arrives Friday afternoon into Friday night. A system moving in will result in widespread snow for most of us. This image from Future Track shows some of the totals. Most areas will end up with 3 to 5 inches of snow.
These snowfall amounts are not huge by Michigan standards, but it will create slick roads. However, the bigger issue will be the wind. This will create blowing and drifting of snow. There will likely be white-out conditions at times, as well as the possibility of power outages. Here is a look at some of the forecasted wind speeds and gusts by late in the day Friday:
As you can see, many areas will have gusts to over 50 miles per hour. This will make travel very difficult with the falling snow and the blowing snow.
For the latest on this next winter storm, join us on FOX 17 News. For radar, temperatures, or wind chills anytime, visit the weather page at http://www.fox17online.com/weather
