The comments I’ve been hearing have been more about wanting springtime weather, but that will be put on hold for a few days as another early spring storm system will bear down on Northern Michigan…specifically Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Low pressure will develop over the Southern Plains lifting to near St. Louis, Missouri by mid-afternoon Tuesday. Ample moisture will get drawn northward into this system as it lifts towards the Western Great Lakes Tuesday night/Wednesday. Any precipitation will hold off until Tuesday afternoon, with that all remaining south of highway M-55 to start the day. Through Tuesday night into the day Wednesday, precipitation will lift northward across all of Northern Michigan with the “core” of this storm crossing through very late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Based on the latest analysis/forecasted track, locations along/south of highway M-55 will initially see some snow/freezing rain Tuesday evening. Ice accumulation around Clare, BealCity, Big Rapids could occur leading to dangerous conditions on the roads with up to a quarter inch of icing possible in these spots.
Eventually, this will switch over to rain later Tuesday night. From highway M-55 northward to highway M-32, just about every type of weather is possible due to fluctuating temperatures. We are looking at snow, sleet, freezing rain for places such as Traverse City, Gaylord, Cadillac, Alpena, Petoskey. North of highway M-68 including the Straits of Mackinac/Eastern U.P., it looks like just snow is likely including Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island, Newberry, and Cheboygan where heavy snow is likely.
Again, the worst of the weather looks to arrive well very, very early Wednesday morning and continue into early Wednesday afternoon.
TOTAL snow accumulation with this storm appears to be in the 6-14” range along/north of highway M-72.
Highest amounts will be in Cheboygan/Emmet counties along with the Eastern U.P. where again, a foot of snow is likely. Traverse City/Gaylord/Alpena could potentially see 6-9” of snowfall with lighter amounts south where more rain/freezing rain will mix in. Those with travel plans should prepare accordingly. So, tell us/share with us your thoughts on this storm and how excited or disappointed you are in the forecast. Heck, this is a good forum just to gripe about the weather. Please share!
