Heavy lake effect snow might not be in the forecast for everyone, but locations that so far this winter have actually been down in snowfall, will get pummeled Wednesday into early Wednesday night with heavy lake effect snow.

The combination of bitterly cold temperatures (averaging 10-15 degrees below normal for mid-February), a brisk and consistent WNW wind, along with lots of open water on Lake Superior will lead to perhaps a foot or more of lake effect snow Wednesday centered around Whitefish Point. It has been a slow winter so far across parts of the Eastern U.P. with regard to snowfall. As an example, Sault Ste. Marie by this date over a one hundred year average, typically has around 97” of snowfall. The winter of 2010/2011….only 48” has fallen which is almost exactly half or 50% of normal snowfall, a four foot shortage so far this winter at the Soo. The implications of this aren’t just less snowmobiling and skiing opportunities, but a lot less water to melt in the spring, which could enhance recent summertime drought conditions in this area. In the Lower Peninsula, Gaylord is also below normal for snow this winter, with Alpena near average, and Houghton Lake above average thanks in part to a couple of different storm systems there.

For Wednesday, a sharp cutoff to the snow with a foot forecasted around Whitefish Point, 6-8” at Paradise with amounts falling off to 3-4” around the remainder of Whitefish Bay and the greater Sault Ste. Marie area. Portions of Northern Lower Michigan will also see some lake effect snow with 3-4” on the high end centered around Elmira and the Gaylord area.