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Messy mix of rain, snow, freezing rain this week

Posted at 12:14 PM, Jan 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-09 12:14:42-05

WEST MICHIGAN- It's snowed almost every day for the last few days and that trend is likely to continue in some fashion through the mid week.

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As temperatures slowly increase throughout Monday evening, we'll see an increase in moisture ahead of our next frontal system.  This will transition our powdery snow we've been seeing the last few days to a wet, heavy, compactable snow.

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By Tuesday morning, warmer air slowly creeps in from the south.  This will move that snowfall to liquid precipitation by late morning, but not before several inches of snow has fallen in most of the area.

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The further north you go, the more likely you are to see closer to 5 or 6 inches of snow by the end Tuesday morning.  Lighter totals are further south because temperatures are going to be warm enough to switch it to rain earlier, thus diminishing our snow totals.

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By Tuesday afternoon, much of the snow that fell in the morning will already be melted as our temperatures climb into the 40s.  In addition, a steady rainfall will fall for a good majority of the day before the storm exits Tuesday night.

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Most of the area should move completely to rain by noon on Tuesday, but your morning commute on Tuesday could run into some problems as that heavy wet snow falls.

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After Tuesday's storm exits, we'll turn our focus to Wednesday night.  With temperatures hovering around the freezing mark once again, we'll start our with just rain.  Overnight, we'll see enough cold air moving in that I believe a period of freezing rain looks likely at this point.

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If we've got enough cold air that works its way into the surface, it's likely we'll see that icy glaze on roadways and trees which could cause some travel problems Thursday morning.  We'll keep you posted with any changes in the forecast via the FOX 17 Weather App.