WEST MICHIGAN — After a record setting mild Christmas and temperatures on Sunday still in the 50s for many of us, a blast of winter arrives through the day on Monday. Accumulating snow will start Monday night and continue into Tuesday morning with a solid 3" to 6" blanketing much of the area.
Steady rain occurs into Monday morning with temperatures starting off in the mid/upper 40s. As the winds increase and temperatures fall through the day, any rain will mix with and change over to light snow showers. Below is what the weather map will look like on Monday morning.
Monday night into Tuesday morning we are expecting significant snowfall. Some areas may see up to one inch snowfall rates per hour. The Tuesday morning commute will be treacherous. See our weather map below and the darker tones of blue indicating steady/heavy snow.
Wind will also be an issue with this storm system. Take a look below at wind speed around noon on Monday. The larger, whiter number are sustained winds over a two-minute period. The "G" number represents the gust, and the arrow is the direction from which the wind comes from.
The next image below still shows strong wind speeds at 6 P.M. on Monday as well. In fact, the wind speeds will generally stay strong through Tuesday.
Below is a map of the WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES in effect through for most of our area through 7 P.M. Tuesday.
Our final image below is how much snow we believe will fall through Tuesday. Most locations in dark blue will see 3" to 6", while lighter amounts will occur further south/east of Grand Rapids.
The wind and heavy, wet snow may also produce scattered power outages. Get the complete West Michigan forecast at www.fox17online.com/weather.
