Major Winter Storm Happening Soon!
***Major Winter Storm still on track to hit the state Wednesday. We will start to feel the effects of it this evening. Near Blizzard Conditions are possible at times later tonight and all of Wednesday into Wednesday night***
***Winter Storm Warnings are in effect starting this evening through at least Wednesday night/Thursday morning***
***Please see the Winter Weather Alert graphic on 9and10news.com***
Just a note of interest. Exactly 14 years ago, we had a storm system and the lake effect behind it give Sault Ste Marie nearly 5 feet of snow over a few day period!! [Remember that storm??] While this current storm is potent, I do not expect to see 5′ of snow with it!!
Snow will increase from SW to NE later evening and tonight. Winds will pick up, as well, from the E/SE 15-30mph and gusty after midnight into the mid-morning hours.
Amounts will be quite heavy from south to north with the U.P. perhaps seeing the least amount of snow overnight tonight.
5″-9″+ could fall south of a Petoskey-Alpena line by daybreak with the heaviest of the snow possibly south of M-72 all the way to M-20. Some rain/sleet/snow mix could damper some accumulations in the Mt. Pleasant/Alma/Midland areas, but it still should be a mess. The U.P. by daybreak could see 3″-6″” but with the heaviest of snow to arrive around and after daybreak into the midday hours.
Lows tonight will be in the 20′s with a few SE areas around 30 degrees. But remember, those winds will be howling later tonight from the east.
The storm tracks on through the lower peninsula Wednesday late afternoon. This will give northern areas (north of M-72 into the U.P.) the best chance to see the moderate to heavy snow continuing. Winds will still be strong especially north of the low, then again on the SW side near Lake Michigan. North of the storm track, we will see several inches more of accumulating snow. South of it, we still could see a brief period of snow/sleet/rain mix in our SE/E Counties where temps still could be in the lower to middle 30′s.
Plain and simple. Traveling in the state tonight and tomorrow will be hazardous. While snow amounts are always questionable and hard to forecast, this will be a high impact storm even if we see a bit less in the snowfall totals.
Behind this system for late Wednesday night and Thursday and continuing into Friday we will see strong W/NW winds creating blowing and drifting of the snow that is on the ground. But we will also see some solid lake snows off of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.
Please travel with your daytime driving lights/headlights on for safety with the expected snowfall.
**Please pass along any weather information including snow reports by entering it below!**
Keep it tuned to 9&10 Weather for the latest in storm updates!
-Meteorologist Jim Lehocky
