WEST MICHIGAN – (Updated at 10 PM) The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for lakeshore counties until Thursday morning.
The warnings have been issued for Ottawa, Allegan and Van Buren Counties to the south and Oceana, Mason counties to the north.
Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph Counties.
Moderate to heavy snow will continue overnight in some parts of West Michigan. The snow will continue until Thursday morning…so this will be a long duration event over a 48-hour period or so. Northwest winds will gust to up to 35 mph at times making visibility low and driving difficult. Some areas could see a foot of snow or more by Thursday morning…especially along/west of U.S. 131 in the warning counties. See snow accumulation map below.
The weather service says travel on US-31, and portions of I-94 and I-196 could become very hazardous and the chance of multi-vehicle pileups possible. The temperatures will also be dropping, making road salt less effective. Wind chills will be running in the single digits and teens the next few days.
Kent County and the Grand Rapids metro area is not included in the warning or advisory, but occasional snow showers, slippery conditions, and accumulations there of about 2″ to 3″ are likely. Drive safely!
We’ll have updates throughout the day on FOX17 on air and online.
