WEST MICHIGAN — It has been a week filled with snow, winds and cold temperatures, making November in West Michigan feel like January in the arctic. Snow and cold temperatures broke multiple records including one that is 119-years old.
Tuesday our Winter Storm broke daily snow fall records with 9 inches being recorded at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, this beat our previous daily snow fall record from 1989. The 9 inches of snow on the ground also broke a record for daily snow depth from the same year.
November 1989 was a very cold and snowy month but November 2014 has proven to be even more extreme. Snow continued to fall at the airport Wednesday and Thursday piling up snow in Grand Rapids in excess of 28 inches for the month. At 7 PM Thursday evening the snow recorded at the airport surpassed a record 119-years old creating a new record for the snowiest November on record with 11 days left in the month.
Official snow totals and records are only kept by the National Weather Service in two locations around West Michigan: Grand Rapids and Muskegon. All other areas rely on co-op weather observers to measure and report their snow totals to the National Weather Service. This is why many areas fail to have snow totals for us to report. We always welcome your snow total reports and pictures.
Lake-effect snow will decrease by Friday morning as warmer weather moves in from the southwest. Warmer temperatures will increase the chance for rain, freezing rain and ice Saturday morning as temperatures remain below freezing. By afternoon, temperatures will be above freezing allowing rain to fall. Rain over the weekend may cause problems with localized flooding. As temperatures drop towards the beginning of the next work week any leftover rain and snow will re-freeze creating a potentially icy start to the week.
