Snowflakes as large as marshmallows fell across Traverse City as seen in this pic from 7&4 Storm Team Meteorologist Joe Charlevoix
/ upnorthlive photo-Joe Charlevoix
NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- Low pressure crossing over Northern Michigan Valentine's Day led to some interesting snow totals. In fact, a few spots near Traverse City tallied 10" of snow with Lake Ann in Benzie County getting 8" of snow accumulation over a 24 hour period into early Friday morning.
That snow was heavy with snowflake sizes reaching almost as large as marshmallows due to temps near freezing and tremendous forcing on the backside of that area of low pressure crossing through. While 10" totals did fall in isolated spots, most locations saw a general 2-5" of snow across Northern Michigan.
Looking ahead to our weekend, colder temperatures will take up residence with high temperatures Saturday struggling into the teens. Along with that will come some lake effect snow which will be mainly confined to Northern Luce County in the U.P. and locations along/west of highway US-131 in the Lower Peninsula, specifically Leelanau County southward including Frankfort, Manistee, Ludington Friday night into Saturday where 2-4" of snow is likely.
Lake snow will end Sunday as temperatures start to rebound disrupting the lake effect process with some sunshine noted. All in all, Sunday looks like a winner for those with plans.
Also of note, we are monitoring two weather systems next week (one Monday and Tuesday, the other Thursday and Friday). The first of these two will come in two separate pieces. The question for snow amounts/accumulation for Northern Michigan will be how closely these phase or merge together. If they phase together, it would slow the system down and also intensify it, leading to heavy snow and some wind. Less phasing and more separation of the weather systems will lead to less snow and a faster moving system. It bears watching, but there are certainly chances for snow later Monday into Tuesday.
