Quick Look For Saturday

Good Morning!

A gray day for us in south central Michigan today, with unseasonably mild temperatures and some RAIN in the forecast.  We'll see some melting and runoff of the nearly foot and a half of snow that is on the ground, over the next few days, but we shouldn't see any major flooding issues at this point.  It's been nice to see some bare pavement on the surface streets in the area.  Let's have a look...

DOWNRIGHT BALMY COMPARED TO LAST WEEK:  Normal temperature this time of year is right around 31 degrees.  We could briefly touch 40 later today and readings should stay above freezing into the middle of next week.  Then we yo-yo above and below freezing from about Wednesday on through the weekend.  The temperature range looks to be from the mid 30's into the lower 20's, and on the days that we stay below freezing, we'll top out in the 20's with lows right around 15.

A SERIES OF WAVES:  Forecast data shows a series of upper waves rotating through the area approximately every other day.  What that means for us is we have a shot at some rain again on Monday, then again late Tuesday or early Wednesday, then, depending on temperature, possibly some rain or snow for the weekend.

Here's the forecast for Jackson and vicinity:

More Forecast for you later!

DENSE FOG ADVISORY

The National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for all counties in the blog until 7PM tonight.  Expect near zero visibility in some spots, and use extra caution when driving.

Thawing!

The graphic says it all!

Getting Milder!

Good Morning!

Still cold, and all of that snow that we got buried with is still on the ground for the most part.  That changes this weekend as we start to thaw some.  Let's take a deeper dive and see what we have going on...

FIRST A RECAP:  I just briefly need to acknowledge that I was 2-3" too light on the snow for most parts of the area.  I briefly considered bumping up the totals to 10-16" with a 1.5" inch error margin to be considered a verified forecast, and I missed that.  Honestly though, it seems that quite a few mets/forecasters were a touch light on snowfall predictions.  That storm was a MONSTER.  Now that we're beyond it, I'll look and see if I missed any clues.  In the meantime, I have to tell you about...

A SWINGING TEMPERATURE PENDULUM:  The deep freeze that choked us right on the heels of that departing winter storm is easing off, as the upper air pattern resets from polar to zonal.  That's a fancy way of saying the air gets off the north wind bit, keeping that nasty North Pole/Siberia cold well north of the border.  That being said, our cold shots we'll see the next few days will be colder because we have a ton of snowpack to contend with, and any air passing over it tends to chill some.  We stay in the teens/lower 20's today, but by this weekend, we see readings well into the 30's, and I'm not totally going to pull a 40 reading or two off the table right now!

MIXED BAG PRECIPITATION:  With the warmer temperatures comes some mixed precipitation for the weekend.  At the moment, I am leaning toward a bit more snow than mix or rain, but be prepared to see all of it.  If we get the mix and rain, that will freeze and make for slick travel this weekend!  The good news is that I don't see any extended sub 25 degree periods in the forecast until next week.  That being said, from 33 degrees on down with any kind of wind, again, icing and slick travel be in mind.

Here's the forecast for Jackson and vicinity:

Have a great day!

My Computer Had Cooties!!!

Hello All.

Apologies for being away, but between taking care of some personal business and troubleshooting my computer that was flagging for being infected with Trojan Horses (computer virus), I have been away.  I also had to re-install some of my forecast tools.  For the moment, things look OK, hopefully they will stay that way.  I'm looking at fresh data and building a quick look forecast for you as you read this.  More to come!

CURRENT WIND CHILLS

Here's a look at just how cold it is out there!

DANGEROUSLY COLD - MODERATING WEDNESDAY

Here's the picture - it ain't pretty.  Wind chill values stay well below zero, single digit temperatures through today, but double digit plus readings tomorrow!

Have a great day!

CORRECTION - SNOW TOTALS

Good Afternoon!

Just a quick post to let you know that the snowfall map I posted early this morning has a wrong value.  The southern part of the state should have eight to fourteen inches, NOT eight to 12.  The "Look Ahead" graphic with all text at the top is accurate regarding my prediction.  It looks like that may even be too low though!

Expect heavy snow for another hour, possibly two, then snowfall tapers off slowly overnight.

Sunday Outlook - The Storm Arrives!

Good Morning!

I have been troubleshooting computer issues after getting groceries for the next few days due to the cold we'll be getting and the snow we are in the middle of.  Heading off to bed, but not before I at least prep you for the next 36 hours.  Here's what you can expect:

And here's how I think the snowfall will shake out for us:

Be safe out there!