GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Round one of a series of winter storms on Tuesday into early Wednesday left behind 5-8'' of heavy, wet snow with the most generally north of a line from Benton Harbor to Saginaw. The nature of the snow led to numerous power outages especially in the early morning hours of Wednesday with 60K+ Consumer Energy customers without electricity.
Round two will be a minor snowfall event, beginning late Wednesday night and lasting through much of Thursday. This is expected to bring light accumulations generally less than two inches.
MAJOR WINTER STORM
Round three will be a major winter storm for West Michigan, beginning around sunrise Friday, and lasting through early Saturday. Several inches of heavy, wet snow is expected by early evening, followed by strong winds gusting to 40+ mph with considerable blowing snow Friday evening.
A Winter Storm Watch was issued Wednesday afternoon for the expected winter storm Friday and Saturday. This will likely be upgraded to a warning on Thursday.
EXPECTED WINTER WEATHER IMPACTS
With the expected high winds and heavy snowfall the impacts are very high in all categories: low visibility, travel impacts and power outages.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE
- Always stay weather aware.
- Charge your electronic devices in case of power outages.
- If you need to travel, limit time spent on roadways; choose another time to go shopping.
- Have an alternative source of heat, if possible.
- If electricity goes out you could consider placing food and water outdoors.
THE STORM TRACK
The low-pressure system bringing Friday's wind and snow will intensify as it moves from California into SE Lower Michigan keeping all precipitation in the form of snow. The rapid deepening of the storm will lead to wind gusts to 40+ mph from the NE.
BLIZZARD-LIKE CONDITIONS
Our Blizzard Conditions Forecast shows blizzard conditions will be met for up to 3 hours in all West Michigan locations between 9 pm Friday and 1 am Saturday, likely just short of NWS Blizzard Warning criteria.
HIGH-IMPACT SNOWFALL
Tremendous amounts of snow will occur during the day Friday, with up to 7"+ expected between 7 am and 7 pm Friday and an additional 5"+ from 7 pm Friday to 7 am Saturday. Additional snow will continue to fall Saturday and Sunday, transitioning from system snow to lake-effect snow.
More lake-effect snow is expected through at least Thursday of next week with additional accumulation likely.
As always, get the most up-to-date, live weathercasts morning, noon, evening and night with West Michigan's most experienced team of meteorologists.
Chief Meteorologist George Lessens
George is a graduate of Penn State University working for 13 On Your Side for over 43 years. He is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM), a thirteen-time MAB® Weathercast Award Winner, two-time EMMY® Award Winner, NATAS® Silver Circle Award Winner, and Weather-Ready Nation® Ambassador.
Contact me at: GeorgeLessens@13OnYourSide.com
Follow me on X/Twitter @glessens and Facebook GeorgeLessensWZZM
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