There is a WEATHER READY ALERT for Friday, January 30 for frigid Arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills. Bundle up overnight and Friday morning, as this is dangerous cold!
An Arctic high sliding into the Great Lakes will pull extremely cold air in to West Michigan tonight. Temperatures will start falling quickly after midnight, bottoming out early tomorrow morning anywhere from -5 to -10.
There is a COLD WEATHER ADVISORY for all of West Michigan from midnight to 10 a.m. Friday to account for dangerously cold wind chills of -10 to -20.
This quick drop happens as clouds clear from the east, cold air filters in, and the wind drops. Even a small wind of 3-5 mph at these temperatures will create wind chills near -10 to -20. This is dangerous cold, with frostbite happening to exposed skin in 30 minutes or less.
Wind chills drop to -5 to -10 around midnight, and continue to get colder overnight. The lakeshore will likely stay cloudier, which will help keep temperatures and wind chills slightly warmer initially.
The coldest wind chills happen between 6 and 8 am, right around the work and school commute. Limit your time outside to a few minutes at most. Roads continue to be slick and icy in these extremely cold temperatures.
It will stay very cold through tomorrow afternoon, but there will be some decent sunshine as well. Highs range from 10 to 15 degrees, but wind chills in the afternoon are still expected to be at or slightly below zero due to a 5 to 10 mph wind.
There should be very little snow happening during this time, although a few lake effect bands may try to creep back onshore Friday night. These will be extremely isolated.
The weekend features afternoon sunshine and a slight thaw-out, but the presence of the Arctic high overhead means morning temperatures will hover close to 0 both days. There could be some wind chills around -10 or lower both mornings too.
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
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