WEST MICHIGAN — A very large, powerful, moisture-laden winter storm will continue to affect Michigan Saturday evening into Sunday early morning. Many areas have already tallied two to three inches of precipitation, with a little more on the way. The last several forecast model runs have continued to trend the track of this system further south and east. That means the best corridor for significant icing looks to be from Kalamazoo, through Lansing, and into Flint...where .25" to .50" of freezing rain and ice are possible (total). Rain, sleet, and freezing drizzle have dominated throughout Saturday in and around Grand Rapids, which has generally kept ice accumulation down. That said, a second swath of precipitation arrives Saturday evening and continues overnight. Our updated map is below with precipitation amounts and types.
Thus far, a lot of the area has been fortunate since the changeover to frozen precipitation started late in the morning, then tapered off through the afternoon. Sleet and snow are better since they don't accumulate on trees and power lines. As this system trends further south and east, it appears that much of the area may trend toward more sleet and snow than actual freezing rain. Below is the county break out of warnings (pink) and advisories (blue).
We attached what this system and radar are expected to look like the next several hours. The first image below is valid for 11 P.M. Saturday. Blue is snow, pink is freezing rain and/or sleet.
The next image below is valid for 2 A.M. Sunday. You can see most of the area has transitioned to snow.
The next computer forecast model image is valid for 5 A.M. Sunday. You can see most of the moisture has lifted out of our area.
Winds will continue to be strong with this system Below is a snapshot of forecast wind speeds, direction, and gusts valid for 10 P.M. Saturday.
Make sure to allow extra travel time Saturday night and Sunday evening until this system departs the state. Sunday we'll see partly sunny skies, less wind, and temperatures in the upper 20s. Get the complete forecast at www.fox17online.com/weather.
