WEST MICHIGAN- Snowfall is picking up this morning and will continue throughout the rest of the next several days. Winter Storm Warnings begin at 10 AM and last through tomorrow afternoon.
There's only one county in our entire area that's not included in the Winter Storm Warning and that's Oceana County which is included in a Winter Weather Advisory.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the southwestern portion of our area for some very heavy snowfall rates through late morning.
Snowfall will continue to lift further north of I-94 through the 10 AM hour, as it continues to intensify.
Around noon, heavier snowfall rates will pick up to the SE as areas around I-96, as Grand Rapids will look to begin the snowfall around this time.
The real trouble will come by this afternoon. More snow moves into the entirety of West Michigan and you'll see more difficult driving conditions on the commute home from work. At this point. it's very possible that there will be areas of up to an inch of snowfall per hour.
In addition to this, winds will be incredibly strong out of the north and northeast directions. Expect sustained winds from 20-30 mph and gusts near 45 mph by this afternoon! This will drop visibilities areawide and provide near blizzard conditions for many portions of West Michigan.
This will be a very heavy and wet snow as well. This means it's difficult to shovel and it will stick to trees and other surfaces. Because the winds will be very strong, power outages in spots are very likely today and tomorrow.
Snow continues into the overnight hours before slowly tapering off into the late morning hours tomorrow. Snowfall totals through Thursday include the heaviest totals to the SE portion of our area. There will be a wide scope of 6-10" accumulations with a few 12" totals as well! Keep us posted on what's going on in your area by posting photos and updates to the FOX 17 Facebook Page.
