COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Old Man Winter seems to be making up for lost time.
After the tranquil weather of December and the first half of January, it’s actually been winter over the last week.
There have been fresh challenges every day since last Saturday when six to eight inches of snow fell around Branch County.
That was followed by a record breaking low on Monday morning of 15 degrees below zero. Then there was freezing rain Tuesday night which eventually turned to rain and washed away of the road salt and sand which had been put down by road crews.
That led to some roads turning into skating rinks.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Nathan Jeruzal says it’s typical during an “el Nino” winter for it to change half way through from mild to wild.
He says by this time next week we could be looking at more record breaking lows.
The extended forecast for the middle of next week is calling for wind chills on Wednesday of between 25 and 30 degrees below zero with high temperatures struggling to get above zero.
Branch and surrounding counties are under a Wind Chill Advisory from 3:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Friday.
A Winter Weather Advisory for three to six inches of lake effect snow is in effect for Kalamazoo and other southwest Michigan counties until Friday night.
