COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) -Schools across Branch County were closed again on Wednesday thanks to snow showers and strong winds which iced up the roads and led to difficult driving conditions. It’s the second straight day classes were wiped out by the weather.
School was cancelled Tuesday for Branch County students because of an ice storm that left up to 1,800 Consumers Energy customers without power.
Most school districts have used up their allotment of cancelled days for this school year even with a three day waiver from the state. Any more lost days will have to be tacked onto the end of the school calendar.
The Branch County Memorial Airport recorded a wind gust of 36 miles an hour. That led to blowing and drifting snow which combined with the frozen precipitation that fell during the Tuesday ice storm meant another morning of difficult driving for commuters.
Some Consumers Energy customers were still without power on Wednesday morning.
As of 7:00 a.m., 325 Branch County customers were in the dark along with 72 in Calhoun County and another 651 in Hillsdale County. System wide, there were 6,531 outages reported.
St. Joseph, Calhoun, and Kalamazoo counties are under a Winter Weather Advisory until 1:00 p.m. Wednesday. According to National Weather Service forecasters, strong wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph may lead to downed tree limbs and power lines this morning.
