Christmas Could Be Very Icy
**Good travel weather can be expected through Thursday early evening across the viewing area. Conditions should start to deteriorate from south to north across the L.P. Thursday evening and night. The U.P. should be “okay” through Friday early morning**
**Winter Storm Watch in effect Thursday evening-Friday for Mason, Lake, Osceola, Clare, Isabella, Gratiot, Mecosta, Montcalm, Oceana, and Newaygo Counties (and counties south into SW Lower Michigan) due to the approaching winter storm. A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is possible. Additional watches across the state could be added over the next day or two. Stay tuned!**
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Clear to partly cloudy skies are on tap tonight with lows -7 to +10 north of M-55 and 0 to 13 south of M-55. We could see some patchy low clouds/fog develoep due to the melting of some of the snow today. Also, keep in mind, with the melting, whatever roads were wet will freeze tonight as the mercury drops. Winds will be N/NE 2-6mph.
More sunshine is likely for Wednesday so yet another great travel day! Highs will be in the middle to upper 20′s north and lower/middle 30′s south.
Thursday, Christmas Eve Day, is still looking quiet with increasing clouds and increasing winds ahead of the storm. Highs should be in the upper 20′s to lower/middle 30′s.
Thursday night into Friday morning will be very interesting in terms of what the weather will be. Some very warm air aloft will overrun the colder air at the surface. This could set up for a freezing rain/mix event especially south of the Straits into our central counties. The E.U.P. should be dry. It will continue to be windy with E/SE winds 15-30mph and gusty.
**This could turn into a -high impact- event with significant icing in the L.P. Thursday night/Friday midday then across the U.P. and Straits area midday into the afternoon hours in addition to any snow we see.**
Friday, Christmas Day, is also looking interesting. The latest computer models have shifted the storm a bit farther west…putting us a little more on the mild side. The warm air aloft should stick around through early afternoon in most areas giving us a chance for rain/mix in the L.P. and snow/ice mix in the E.U.P. However, colder air will move in from the SW Friday mid to late day changing everything back over to snow, especially at night. Highs will be in the lower to middle 30′s before the colder air moves in late.
Remember, in this type of set up, a degree or two change at the surface could mean the difference between a cold rain….or freezing rain/mix…or heavy wet snow. Right now, it is too tough a call to get too specific, but lets just say that traveling could be hazardous.
Periods of snow are likely for Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 20′s Saturday and a bit colder for Sunday.
By the way, the heaviest snow with the Christmas Day storm should be in western Wisconsin, the far western U.P., Minnesota, Iowa and NW Illinois.
Keep it tuned to 9&10 Weather for the latest updates on the Christmas Day storm!
-Meteorologist Jim Lehocky
