Weather

Actions

Strong spring weekend storm hits West Michigan

Posted at 8:07 AM, Apr 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-14 11:20:15-04

\

WEST MICHIGAN –A Winter Storm Watch and Winter Weather Advisory are in place starting across the weekend for Kent County and areas northward for the possibility of a significant ice event and for the Kalamazoo area with a possible glaze of ice and flooding concerns. Today plan for heavy rain showers to start with changeover freezing rain/sleet and even snow the further north you travel. Temperatures will be colder north and “warmer” south with all falling temperatures throughout the day. Breezy winds gusting upwards of 40 mph to even 50 mpg which can cause power outages.

West Michigan can expect to see heavy rain throughout much of the day on Saturday. As colder air moves in, expect the freezing line to dip further to the south.  This will set up the potential for freezing rain/sleet or snow to work its way further south.  If freezing rain continues dangerous roadway conditions and power outages are likely to develop.  We will see a break in activity in the late afternoon and evening on Saturday before the freezing rain potential picks back up again overnight.

Ice accumulations are a main concern with this strong Spring storm. The heart of West Michigan can see an eighth of an inch to a half an inch of ice accumulations while north of the Grand Rapids area could see a half an inch or more. The I-94 area will see mainly just rain or a thin glaze of ice.

We will continue to see a mix of freezing rain and sleet are likely to develop before transition to rain and snow on Sunday.  Highs in the upper 30s and winds will continue to be strong.

West Michigan will see Lake Effect snow chances heading into Monday before we will have dry conditions for a brief time. Wednesday a rain/snow mix is back in our forecast. Temperatures will slowly rebound late in the week.