Lock & Load - Old Man Winter Is Lining Us Up....

Good Morning!

We have some lake-effect snow already developing from just south of Ludington and snowing all the way down into Indiana.  That snow will become more widespread as the day progresses.  Let's take a deeper dive and see what we have going on:

SUMMARY:  Cloudy skies in the area right now in advance of the low pressure system that is tracking at us from the southwest.  Add some extra moisture from southerly flow that has temperatures up around 30 right now and we have the ingredients needed for quite a mess.  If you haven't been following earlier posts, every county in the blog is under some sort of winter weather deal from the National Weather Service except  Lenawee.  Let's run them down for you again here really quick.


WINTER STORM WARNING - Clinton, Eaton, Ingham counties from 12 noon today through 12 noon tomorrow.

WINTER STORM WATCH - Livingston, Shiawassee, Washtenaw, from 3 PM today through 10 AM tomorrow morning.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY - Calhoun, Jackson, Branch, Hillsdale, from 12 noon today thru 12 noon tomorrow.

Taking a look at the Grand Rapids NEXRAD radar, you see the snow already cranking up out over Lake Michigan and well off to our north, where the heart of the storm is forecast to track.

Grand Rapids NEXRAD Radar 

Snow amounts up to a foot are possible up around Ithaca, Mt. Pleasant, and Big Rapids, among other places.  We keep temperatures in the freezing range today and into tomorrow, so that's perfect for plenty of moist wet snow.  This snowfall will be more of a pain to get cleaned up than the powdery stuff we have had for the most part up until now.  Please be careful if you are out having to shovel it!

Looking ahead, as this storm departs to the east, we drop temperatures dramaticlaly in time for the weekend, with nighttime lows below 10 degrees.  On Sunday we see a warm up into the upper 30's and some places may see a 40 or two in the area, especially on Monday.  That will cause messy driving and such with snow melt that re-freezes into ice, and it could even cause some flooding issues as the snow melt isn't easily absorbed into the frozen ground.

SNOW:  Plenty of it on the way.  Have a look at this map from the National Weather Service that shows what they think the snowfall amounts will be over the next 12-24 hours:

National Weather Service Snowfall Forecast ending 7 PM Friday Evening

As you can see, this storm is expected to track right across the central third of the state as you go from north to south, with 12-15" possible in that part of the world!  They can keep it too!  After that we see clearing skies for Friday and into Saturday, and that's what will allow the mercury to nosedive into the single digits overnight Friday and into the start of the weekend.  Sunday evening into Monday, we see another disturbance moving in that may bring us any mode of precipitation.  Right now, I see a better than even chance at a wintry mix of precipitation, or even rain, starting Sunday evening and carrying over into at least part of the day on Monday.

Here's a look at the forecast for Jackson and vicinity:


Today, cloudy, a mixed bag of precipitation develops after lunch, becoming snow later, high 32, winds SE 5-10 MPH.  Perhaps an inch of snow accumulation and a bit of ice before we change over.  Use caution heading home this evening from work and school.

Tonight, cloudy, snowy by 9 PM, accumulations should be three to five inches, depending on location.  Not as cold, low near 23, winds N 10-15 MPH.

Friday, snow diminishing early afternoon, an additional inch of snow by mid-afternoon is possible, high 28, north winds turning ESE 5-10 MPH.

Friday night, clearing skies and very cold, nighttime lows down to around 10 with wind chills around zero.  Winds SE 5-10 MPH.

Saturday, clear skies seasonably cold, high 31, wind SSE 5-10 MPH.

Saturday night, clear and cold, low 16.

Sunday, increasing clouds, a wintry mix or even some rain develops, high of 36.

Monday, partly to mostly cloudy with some scattered snow showers, high 40.

Tuesday, continued partly cloudy, cooler, perhaps the chance of some light snow, high 35.

Wednesday, some sunshine, colder still, high 33.

There's a look at your forecast for the next six days, I do you have a great Thursday!  Blessings.