WEST MICHIGAN — The last days of November and the first few days of December will be interesting when it comes to forecasting who will see what. While a strong system brings some light snow to our eastern counties and out towards Detroit, heavy lake-effect snow will develop along Lake Michigan.
The first topic we will tackle is the lake-effect, as this will be the biggest issue for West Michigan into early next week. A strong northerly wind will produce a band of heavy snow that impacts those along the lake in Berrien County. Everyone else that lives along Lake Michigan will see little to no snow. Oceana County has the chance of light accumulating snow, but that chance is not as high as in Berrien County.
If you live in Berrien County, expect the snow to start tonight as a mix of rain and snow, transitioning to all snow by morning. The band will continue to slowly ease itself offshore and into Northern Indiana by the end of Monday, but until that happens, heavy snow will fall from Benton Harbor to New Buffalo. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued starting tonight for the possibility of 6"+ in this band, with very low visibility and tough driving conditions.
Now let's take on the other snowfall which will primarily fall across the east side of the state. A few snow showers could trickle into counties like Ionia, Barry, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Branch and St. Joseph, leaving behind a dusting of snow through Tuesday. The heaviest though will be out in Detroit and Flint where they will have 2" to 6" of powder by mid-week.
If you were left out of the snow talk, it doesn't mean you won't see a few flakes flying in the sky from time to time tonight through Tuesday. The forecast, however, remains primarily dry, cloudy and windy after the gorgeous weekend. Those winds in particular will be strong now through Tuesday, with gusts 25-35 mph at times.
Something we will watch closely on Tuesday is the wind shifting back to the northwest, which could bring the lake-effect back into portions of Berrien, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Cass, and St. Joseph. There could be few inches of snow from that. Any and all snow should wrap-up Tuesday night.
