COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – After temperatures reached the upper 40’s and low 50’s Thursday, cold and windy conditions are expected today with highs ranging between the mid teens and low 20’s across southern Lower Michigan and northern Indiana.
Lake effect snow showers are expected in southwest Lower Michigan with light accumulations possible. High pressure will bring quiet and dry conditions Saturday.
According to National Weather Service forecasters, this will be followed by a chance for light snow Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening as a weak disturbance moves through.
After the temperature at the Branch County Memorial Airport hit a balmy 56 degrees at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday night, a cold front came through and dropped the mercury 30 degrees in six hours.
It was 26 degrees at midnight with wind gusts at that time getting up to 45 miles an hour.
Wind gusts got as high as 54 miles an hour in Ionia and 53 miles an hour at the W.K. Kellogg Airport.
The strong winds along with icy weather to the north has led to over 156,000 Consumers Energy customers to lose their power. Many will remain in the dark through the weekend.
Nearly 250 Branch County customers, mostly in the Union City area, were without power on Friday morning.
Calhoun and Kalamazoo Counties remain under a Winter Weather Advisory until 7:00 p.m. Friday night as forecasters were calling for wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour that will continue to bring down tree limbs.
While the total snowfall will not be all that heavy, the combination of strong winds, blowing and drifting snow and temperatures in the teens will result in local whiteouts which will significantly hamper travel. Some roads may be locally icy.
