WEST MICHIGAN - Now that we put the month of January behind us, things look warmer and less snowy as we start February. So far we've tallied 52 inches of snow in Grand Rapids this season, well on our way to our average/normal of 77 inches for the entire season. We've also put the brutally cold Arctic air behind us, yielding wind chills of almost -30 degrees. While we can't say with absolute certainty, there is some moderate confidence that our coldest part of the season is behind us.
We may not have Arctic air on the horizon or heavy snow, but this is the time of year that temperatures hover around the freezing mark and freezing rain and ice can become an issue. Our forecast models continue to show at least the chance or possibility of some freezing rain from a system in the Wednesday evening Thursday time frame.
A low pressure system lifting into Michigan from the south and west could produce some freezing rain Wednesday evening through Wednesday night. See image below. The map is valid for 6 P.M. Wednesday. The widespread pink shows the freezing rain.
The next image below is valid for 6 A.M. Thursday. Again, note the expansive area of pink or freezing rain.
By the time we get into Thursday mid morning, we should see a transition to rain. This system will pull away from Michigan later in the day on Thursday, and very little (if any) snow is expected since the deeper moisture will lift into Canada. See image below valid for 6 P.M. Thursday.
Of course, the track of this system may change, which means we could wrap warmer air in, limiting or mitigating any ice or freezing rain potential. The other scenario? Colder air could means it becomes snow instead of ice and rain, so the track certainly bears watching. Make sure to stay up on later forecasts, our FOX 17 team of Meteorologists will be tracking things all week.
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
