After a few days of relatively quiet weather in West Michigan, two systems bring rounds of snow and light freezing drizzle to end the work week.
There is a WEATHER READY ALERT for Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6 to account for snow, difficult travel conditions, and reduced visibility from blowing snow.
Snow will begin moving in from the northwest early Thursday morning. The morning commute should not be vastly impacted for the I-96 corridor. Areas north of Grand Rapids will get the light snow first and roads could be slick in spots there.
Snow becomes more widespread through the mid to late morning. Gusty winds during this time will cause blowing snow and reduced visibility in addition to road conditions becoming slick. Drive carefully!
By the evening commute, most of the snow will be gone from West Michigan. However, some lake effect snow bands could continue to form along the immediate lakeshore to near the 131 corridor, and provide additional higher snow totals and slick roads.
There is a small window of opportunity for freezing drizzle (pink) to filter in during the evening. This glaze of ice could cause more slick spots on the roads, especially elevated bridges and overpasses.
The second wave of snow arrives early Friday morning and will be much heavier than the snow on Thursday.
Reduced visibility and slick roads are likely areawide for the Friday morning commute.
This cold front moves through quickly, and by noon dry air will be moving in and snow ends.
Between the two waves of snow, 2-4" is expected. There could be isolated higher totals along the lakeshore from any lake effect bands that persist.
In addition to blowing snow, the gusty winds will draw in very cold air, and wind chills will be running much colder than actual temperatures all day Thursday and Friday. Check out some of the expected wind gusts Thursday:
Late Friday as the Arctic high gets closer, temperatures will plummet and wind chills will drop too. It could already be feeling as low as -5 to -10 by 7 p.m. Brr!
It will be a very cold weekend, with single digit morning temperatures. Saturday will be the coldest day with highs in the upper teens, but with some partial sunshine. Sunday will be warmer, in the mid-20s, but another round of morning snow could lead to occasional slick spots.
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
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