Day 1 School Closing Outlook
Valid: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Issued: Tuesday, January 14, 2025 3:32 PM
Updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2025 7:38 PM
Update:
Ongoing lake-effect snow and related travel impacts this evening have been rather underwhelming and the Winter Weather Advisory that was in effect has been canceled early as of 7:27 PM.
As a result of these new factors, we have opted to significantly reduce the chances of snow days and/or delays for Wednesday morning across all areas.
The only areas that remain within a risk area (<15%) will be the immediate lakeshore areas along and West of US-31.
Previous Forecast:
Summary:
After a very rough morning commute for parts of West Michigan today and no snow days or delays across our entire area, we continue to see the impacts of lake-effect snow as this winter weather system continues. Additional snow day potential is forecasted for Wednesday.
Special Note:
To encourage a full understanding of these outlooks from our readers we are now placing the graphic at the bottom of the forecast discussion article. We strongly suggest reading the detailed discussion with our forecasts so that you can understand our mentality and any underlying details we have concerning our forecast that the visual graphic may not depict well.
Discussion:
As aforementioned, additional lake-effect snow continues across parts of the region this afternoon generally South of I-196 and West of US-131 and with as much as 5 inches of new snowfall expected through early Wednesday morning, we are forecasting additional chances for snow days and delays on Wednesday.
Currently, the latest computer weather model guidance and forecasts from the NWS support the idea that impacts will be generally confined to the aforementioned area from about Holland to Kalamazoo but there is also the potential for an area of higher snowfall totals near Ludington as well. In these two areas, we have outlined 31-50% chances for snow days Wednesday based on the threat of this new snow accumulation and, for areas near and in between Holland and Kalamazoo, the continued threat of ongoing dangerous travel that is expected to persist into the evening.
Elsewhere (North of I-96 and East of US-131, and especially along US-127), given the fact that wind chills and blowing snow will no longer be factors in snow day potential and that travel conditions have already greatly improved in these areas, we have generally removed the snow day risk with the exception of the areas immediately surrounding the aforementioned higher risk areas (Ludington and Kalamazoo to Holland).
Once again, a tricky lake-effect forecast scenario is expected overnight, and with the further reality of the lack of snow days this morning, I have opted to be very conservative with my graphic and this accompanying forecast discussion. Regardless of if schools are closed or not, it is always important to remain #WeatherAware and to drive safely on ice and snow!
Graphical Forecast:
Comments