WEST MICHIGAN — Perhaps we can call it a one two punch? A winter storm delivering a wintry mix to Michigan on Saturday with snow, freezing rain, sleet, and rain, followed by an Arctic blast with the coldest air of the season arriving next week!
Low pressure in Texas with upper level energy over the Four Corners region (southwest) will link up and tap Gulf moisture and surge in to Michigan on Saturday. Expect snow to develop through the morning. We may see freezing rain/sleet mix in through the day until the temperatures warm in to the mid 30s and everything changes to plain rain. That said, our northern counties may not see the changeover, which means the higher snowfall totals would occur there.
While this system is a winter storm due to the scope of states it will affect and the wintry mix it will produce, it doesn’t appear to be a snowstorm for us or an ice storm. That said, our northern counties may see about 2″- 4″ or so from this system (higher totals along U.S. 10 and north), while the remainder of our viewing area picks up about 1″-3″ through Sunday late afternoon. That ends punch one!
The second punch arrives Sunday night as lake-effect snow begins. The coldest air of the season, thus far, will arrive and most highs next week won’t get out of the teens. In fact, some of our latest forecast models are showing the core of the coldest air arrives on Wednesday with only single digit highs! A prevailing westerly flow off Lake Michigan will likely generate several inches of accumulating lake-effect snow, especially along/west of U.S. 131.
The attached snapshot was taken from the GFS forecast model and is valid for next Wednesday morning. It shows temperatures (in Celsius) about 5,000 feet above the surface at -24 to -26 (depicted in the maroons and reds). That’s 13 degrees below zero in Fahrenheit! At the surface…that would be about 0 to +5. Throw in some wind and “feels like” temps could be about -20 to -25.
Get your West Michigan forecast at www.fox17online.com/weather.
