Day 1 School Closing Outlook
Issued: Monday, December 2, 2024 4:58PM
***NOTE: Due to the number of impactful winter weather events forecasted for the upcoming week we will likely only be issuing Day 1 Outlooks the evening before each day rather than doing Day 2 Outlooks in addition to the aforementioned Day 1 Outlooks. This is in an effort to avoid confusion and to simplify WMIWX's response to these weather events. Stay tuned for updates each day!***
Summary:
The Winter Storm from today will continue to impact our lakeshore counties, especially Ottawa, Allegan, Berrien, Cass, and VanBuren, overnight tonight bringing widespread snow total snow accumulations of 1-3 inches with localized amounts of more than 8 inches. As highlighted by the snow on Monday, forecasting lake effect impacts is never easy. However, we anticipate some school closings on Tuesday West of US-131 along the US-31 & I-196 corridors.
Discussion:
This last punch of lake effect snow before a break Tuesday night into Wednesday is forecasted to bring heavy snow to some lakeshore regions with the heaviest and most persistent bands forecasted to impact portions of Allegan, Ottawa, and VanBuren Counties.
VanBuren, Berrien, Cass, Ottawa, and Allegan Counties:
The latest computer weather model guidance from the HRRR model suggests that a couple locations across this region will see 10+ inches of snow by 5:00 AM Tuesday morning. The primary impact areas look to be around Holland and Benton Harbor as bands set up for several hours in these locations. This snow is forecasted to taper off between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM which may give crews time to clear roads. The snow is expected to stop from North to South thus the increased chances to the South. This new snowfall combined with the snowfall from this past weekend and the impressive forecasted snowfall rates of as much as 2 inches per hour will lead to difficult travel caused by slick, snow-covered roads.
Areas North of Grand Haven and Near US-131:
School closure chances Tuesday morning across these areas are a little less certain as this snow will be caused by lake effect enhancement as an impulse travels South along the lake shore Still, we do expect scattered school closures, especially as you near the US-10 corridor along US-31. Localized snow accumulations of up to 4 inches are possible in these areas with widespread totals of around 1-2 inches.
Owen Drake
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