Issued at 5:25pm EST 01/17/2023
Isolated to widely scattered delays and some school closures are possible on Thursday.
The sun has been out at times for many areas across the region today and that has had a definite positive impact on the ability of road crews to clean road surfaces of the snowpack that has been present for the last week or so.
The wind chills, snowpacked/icy roads, and somewhat heavy lake-effect snow that have been the root causes of the numerous school closures over the past week or so are becoming less of a threat. However, there are 2 factors that we believe will likely lead to at least a few closures/delays for Thursday.
Additional light to moderate lake-effect snow is occurring over an area generally north of I-94, west of US-127, and south of M-20. This will lead to some additional snow accumulations through the evening and overnight hours.
While roads are mostly clear of snowpack, they remain wet. This will likely lead to re-freezing overnight tonight as temperatures fall once again resulting in black-ice and slippery roads for the morning commute.
The uncertainties surrounding the severity of these threats and the areas they may impact preclude the introduction of higher risks at this time.
We'll have our thoughts on school closing potential for Friday out very shortly at https://www.westmichiganweather.net/school-closings
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