Here are the latest forecast highlights from the National Weather Service offices across Michigan:
A dangerous early-season winter storm is producing blizzard conditions across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Michigan, with additional snowfall of 12 to 18 inches expected through Thursday evening in the hardest-hit areas.
Strong winds gusting to 50 mph combined with heavy snow are creating whiteout conditions and making travel extremely hazardous.
Blizzard Warnings remain in effect for lakeshore counties of the western and north-central Upper Peninsula until Thursday evening, where snowfall rates of one inch per hour or more are combining with wind gusts greater than 45 mph to drastically reduce visibility.
The Keweenaw, Ontonagon, Gogebic counties and the Michigamme Highlands of Baraga and Marquette counties north of U.S. 41 are expected to receive the heaviest accumulations. Winter Storm Warnings cover much of northern Lower Michigan, where 6 to 12 inches of snow is forecast through Friday, with localized amounts of 18 to 24 inches possible from southern Antrim to western Crawford County.
The storm system, currently centered over the eastern Upper Peninsula, will continue moving northeast into Canada through Thursday. Behind the system, intense lake effect snow bands will develop Thursday morning and settle in by Thursday afternoon, particularly affecting areas from Traverse Bay southeast across the length of northern Michigan down to Saginaw Bay.
The most dominant band appears focused on the I-75 and U.S. 131 corridors, where near-zero visibility under heavy bands will likely create rapidly changing and dangerous travel conditions. Significant impacts on I-75 may extend from Roscommon and West Branch north to Waters, while the U.S. 131 corridor between Elmira and Fife Lake is of particular concern on Thanksgiving Day.
Strong winds will continue to be a major factor through Thursday morning, with gusts of 35 to 50 mph across much of the state. High Wind Warnings are in effect for lakeshore areas of western Lower Michigan until 7 a.m. Thursday, where gusts could reach 60 mph. Wind Advisories cover the remainder of Lower Michigan through early Thursday morning. The combination of heavy snow and strong winds may cause downed limbs and trees, leading to localized power outages. Wind chills will drop into the teens Thursday morning and remain in the low to mid 20s during the afternoon.
On Lake Superior, Storm Warnings continue until midnight Wednesday for offshore waters from Keweenaw Bay to Grand Marais, where wind gusts of 57 mph and waves of 15 to 20 feet are occurring.
Gale Warnings remain in effect for all Lake Superior waters through Thursday night, with waves persisting at 12 to 18 feet in the eastern half of the lake through Thursday evening. Minor lakeshore flooding and beach erosion are possible along the Lake Superior shoreline through Thursday.
On Lake Michigan, Storm Warnings are in effect until 1 a.m. Thursday for nearshore waters, where wind gusts around 60 mph and waves of 14 to 20 feet are expected this evening.
Lake effect snow will gradually diminish Friday as the storm system pulls farther away and surface high pressure briefly moves over the region. However, attention will quickly turn to another winter system approaching for the weekend.
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