Quiet Tuesday, accumulating snow expected on Wednesday

SAGINAW, Mich. (WNEM) - After many who were hoping for a fresh coating of snow picked up a bit more over the weekend on Sunday, much of it has already melted as we started a brand new workweek.

While it was a bummer to lose it so fast for some, it at least has given us a fairly quiet Monday overall. Tuesday is expected to feature more quiet weather, but as we move into Wednesday, there is a pretty strong chance for another round of accumulating snow. And even beyond Wednesday, there are more chances in the forecast which could bring one of the more active weeks we’ve seen in awhile!

This Evening & Overnight

Cloudy skies will stick around through tonight and most will make it through the night on the dry side. We do have a cold front to our northwest that will try to send a few snow showers and flurries in our direction tonight, but we don’t expect this to be a major issue. Those aren’t expected to arrive until closer to midnight.

Lows will settle in the upper 20s to low 30s tonight, and temperatures should remain pretty steady this evening. Winds will be briefly gusty tonight, with gusts near 25 to 30 miles per hour possible. This should keep wind chills much cooler, with teens and low 20s expected.

Tuesday

Tuesday itself should be pretty quiet, with mostly cloudy skies expected through the day. Highs will be a bit warmer tomorrow, with highs expected to land around the middle 30s in most areas. A westerly wind around 5 to 15 miles per hour will keep us feeling a bit cooler in the wind chill department, more like the middle and upper 20s.

Dry weather should last through Tuesday evening and most of the overnight, before snow starts moving in toward daybreak on Wednesday. Lows will settle in the middle to upper 20s on Tuesday night.

Wednesday

The early morning rush appears okay on Wednesday, but snow is expected to gradually move into the Genesee, Lapeer, and Shiawassee county area around 7-8 AM and gradually spread northward through the morning. By lunchtime, the general expectation is for snow to be overhead around most, if not all, of the area.

Once that snow arrives, we’ll be grinding it out through much of the day on Wednesday. With the consistency through the day, accumulation potential seems pretty good. We saw a preview of this on Sunday. While snow wasn’t particularly heavy, it was persistent enough to bring us a fresh coating.

Another thing helping the cause on Wednesday is our temperatures are expected to be colder than we have been for the last few chances of snow. Highs on Wednesday are only expected to be around the freezing mark or cooler, so snow will have a better chance of sticking.

The heaviest snow with this system is expected to be to our south, and the heaviest in the state is expected to be closer to the Detroit area. However, we are still expecting a decent snowfall.

Those in our southern communities and the eastern Thumb are expected to pick up around 2-5″ of snow, with potentially higher amounts locally. Areas around the Tri-Cities, Mount Pleasant, and the western half of the Thumb are expected to pick up around 1-4″ of snow, and areas north of the Tri-Cities are generally expected to pick up 1-3″ of snow, though some higher amounts are possible closer to Lake Huron with lake enhancement.

It’s important to know, adjustments are still possible with another full day before this system arrives in our area. We don’t expect major changes, but some upward or downward adjustment in snow totals is still possible.

Winds on Wednesday will start southeasterly before turning northeasterly through the day, and pick up to around 10 to 20 miles per hour. Thankfully this snow should be a little more on the wetter side, which should keep blowing snow from getting out of control.

Snow should wind down into Wednesday night, with the last of the snow showers expected to end early Thursday morning. Lows will settle in the 20s, so we’ll need to keep an eye out on icy roads.

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