westMJim

I did not mean to make it sound like there would not be any more snow this season. Yes we very well could see snow into April but I think the bulk of the snow has fallen for this season. up north they will see a lot more then we will in the next 4 to 6 weeks. I still feel that Grand Rapids has a good chance of reaching 80" or better for this season and I did not think that way in mid January. At that time I though it would be more like 50"

As it looks like we might not be seeing much snow going forward here are the total seasonal snow fall totals from around Michigan. Grand Rapids 75.6” Muskegon 69.4” Holland ??? Lansing 36.9” Detroit 29.4” Flint 48.8” Saginaw 41.9” In norther lower Michigan https://www.weather.gov/apx/snowgraph_ytd Marquette 208.1” and now off to our west Chicago 41.5” (+10.6”) Rockford 51.2” (+19.0”) Milwaukee 48.4” (+8.7”) Madison 53.1” (+10.3”) Green Bay 67.5” (+25.2”)

With yesterdays 4.3" of snow Grand Rapids is now at 75.3" for this winter season. Here in the NW side of Grand Rapids and the Walker area and to the north there now has been snow on the ground for 48 days in a row. And here at my house this morning there is 9” on the ground and it looks very much like mid winter instead of it being March 6th I had some breaks in the clouds and it got down to 0 here at my house but the official low at the airport was just 11.

Picked up around 2″ of snow since yesterday afternoon and there is now 6.5″ of snow on the ground here at this time. Grand Rapids is now up to 71.0″ of snow for the season so it looks like GR will end the season very close to average. And yes there is still a chance that GR could end the season above average is total snow fall as we still have the rest of March and April to go yet. Yesterday will go into the record books as the 2nd coldest maximum for any March 4th here at GR.

Lake Michigan is keeping west Michigan much warmer then off to our west in Wisconsin are below zero at this time here on this side of the lake the official reading at GRR is 10 and here at my house I have 12 with snow falling. The snow is light to moderate at times but the flake size is very small so not much is accumulating.

Here is a little winter update as to were Grand Rapids stands so far the winter season, With spring soon knocking on our door it should still be noted that our area has and can get some big time snow and ice storms in March and even into the start of April. While this has been for the most part a back-end winter here are some interesting bits of information on the winter of 2018/19 so far. Met winter at Grand Rapids was closer to average then one would think. The Average High for December 1st to February 28th at Grand Rapids was 32.8° (33.1° is ave) the average low was 20.3° (20.5° is ave) Snow fall was 54.1” (57.5” is ave) the greatest depth on the ground was 14” with since 1950 12” being the average greatest depth on the ground. And now for the season Grand Rapids total snow fall is at 69.5” So we stand a good chance of getting anywhere between 75 to 80” for the season. Over the years there has been a large range of snow fall amounts here at GR with in just the last 30 years the range of between 116.0” in the winter of 2013/14 all the way down to just 51.2” in the winter of 2011/12. During that 30-year time the average was 77.4” Bottom line this winter will go down in the books as a near average winter.

Had just over one inch of new snow here and the total on the ground ranges from 6 to 8 inches and of course the snow piles. The old snow is very packed and has almost a ice quality to it. And the parking lot snow piles some are huge and should last most if not all of March. The baseball season starts here on April 6th and I have my orientation on March 20th It like last year it might be a cold start to this years season. The current temperature here is 27 with light snow falling.

while not a March OBS I have added a February and met winter wrap for Grand Rapids. It is also in the February discussion February and meteorological winter wrap. For February at Grand Rapids the mean temperature was 25.6° (-1.2°) the highest for the month was 48° on the 4th and the lowest was -2° on the 1st There was 20.4” of snow fall (14.8” is average) with the most in one day of 5.1” on the 12th There was at least a trace or more of snow on the ground all 28 days and there has been snow on the ground here in Grand Rapids since January 18th February 2019 was a somewhat wet month as 3.43” of precipitation fell (1.79”) is average. For meteorological winter (December 1st to February 28th) Grand Rapids mean temperature was 26.6° Average is 26.5° Snow fall in meteorological winter was 54.1” (57.5” is average) With a mild and almost snow free 1st half and a cold and snowy 2nd this is a very good case of a “back loaded” winter.

In Grand Rapids there was at least 1" reported at GRR on 45 days so here it was at least 50% of met winter had snow on the ground. Here at my house that would be 48 days of 90 as there were 3 days at GRR where they reported only a trace and I had at least 3" on the ground. Here at my house there has been snow on the ground since January 18

February and meteorological winter wrap. For February at Grand Rapids the mean temperature was 25.6° (-1.2°) the highest for the month was 48° on the 4th and the lowest was -2° on the 1st There was 20.4” of snow fall (14.8” is average) with the most in one day of 5.1” on the 12th There was at least a trace or more of snow on the ground all 28 days and there has been snow on the ground here in Grand Rapids since January 18th February 2019 was a somewhat wet month as 3.43” of precipitation fell (1.79”) is average. For meteorological winter (December 1st to February 28th) Grand Rapids mean temperature was 26.6° Average is 26.5° Snow fall in meteorological winter was 54.1” (57.5” is average) With a mild and almost snow free 1st half and a cold and snowy 2nd this is a very good case of a “back loaded” winter.

We will have to see how the up coming expected cold plays out. But for west Michigan Monday and Tuesday could be a top 5 coldest days for a March 5th and 5th The forecast high/low for Monday as of today is lows of 0 to +5 and highs of 10 to 15 the average H/L is 39/23 the current record coldest maximum for March 4 it 13 in 2002 and the record low is -3 in 1948. For March 5 the average H/L is 40/24 today's forecast for Tuesday in near 15 with a low of 5 the record coldest maximum for March 5 is 16 in in 1920 and the record low is -8 in 1948. As for the snow potential for Sunday the NWS here in Grand Rapids at this time is saying move on nothing to see here. But hints that there could be some moderate amounts of lake effect next week.

At Marquette as of February 26th they have had 87.3” of snow fall. since December 160.7” for the season they are now at 202.2” While this is well below the record for Marquette of 319.8” in the 2001/02 season it is still good for 18 place up there. The current snow depth of 49” is down from the 53” on February 24th That 53” on the ground on the 24th is the 2nd deepest snow depth reported at Marquette the most was 63.3” on March 15th 1997 (in March of 1997 Marquette also had snow depts of 60” March 16th 58” on the 17th 56” on the 18th and 54” on the 19th before reaching 53” on the 20th The snow depth did not fall below 10” until April 17th and there was still a trace on April 30th in fact a trace was reported up to May 2nd and Marquette had 9.1” of snow in May of 1977 It did get up to 81° on May 31st

Cleared the driveway off and with the sun filtered thru the clouds it is not all that bad outside. And yes there is melting in in non shady areas. As of today the sun's angle and length of day is the same as around November 6th Here at my house I had 1.3" of new snow overnight and now have a good snow cover of 6.5" the current temperature here is now at 28.6 The official snow fall totals as of February 26th at GRR for February 19.3" since December 1st 53.0" and for the season GRR is now officially at 67.4"

It is hard get new snow fall measurements from yesterdays snow but a good guess is about 1.5" give or take. There is now a total of 4.5" of snow on the ground here with the old snow very hard packed. While windy it was not as windy as I thought it would get. At this time I am getting light snow and some blowing snow with a temp here of 14

Here are some web cams from Munising https://www.exploremunising.com/web-cams/ and Ontonagon it looks real bad at Ontonagon https://www.jamadots.com/webcams

The report from the Sault (Sault Ste Marie) was 978.4 at the airport and 978.4 downtown (downtown is north of the airport)

The low looks to still be near Sault Ste Marie as their latest reading was 978.4 at their airport and 975.7 at KANJ At this time I am getting moderate snow and blowing snow here with a temperature of 30.5. Winds at the airport are reported at 36 MPH with gust of 49

yeah I seen that just after I posted this. Thanks

The low at this time seems to be at or near Sault Ste Marie as their latest reading was 979.8 and falling and that is lowest pressure in Michigan at this time. Here in Grand Rapids the lowest pressure reading was 987.1 and the latest reading was 991.3. At this time getting light snow with some winds but as of yet the winds are not too bad.

Anyone know just how deep the low is at this time? The last I seen was at 981 in norther Lake Michigan at 7:45 AM EST

Here in Grand Rapids so far while it has been some what windy so far it has not been too bad. The high here at my house overnight was 41.6° but the official high at the airport reached 46. at this time the temperature here at my house is 33.4° with off and on snow showers (light) Did lose a lot of the snow pack but with the snow that was on the ground being very hard packed there is still around 3" of snow on the ground here at my house.

The temperature here has now fallen down to 36 with rain it was up to 39. At this time there are some small thunderstorms in central Illinois and a lot of thunderstorms in western Kentucky and Tennessee. So do not be too surprised to see a flash of lighting or a rumble of thunder later tonight.

I was in the far southwest side of Grand Rapids yesterday and I was surprised on the difference in the snow depth there compared to here NW Grand Rapids. Here there is still a solid 7” on the ground and down there it looked more like 2” with a many area of bare ground. Clear and 26.4 here at my house. As for this weekend it looks more like a wind and rain event and would look for the Winter Storm Watch to be replaced/changed to some sort of wind warning instead. In fact not sure why the NWS here in Grand Rapids issued a Winter Storm Watch in the first place. But that said if indeed we do get winds with 60 MPH gust well there will be power outages once again.

As I stated before not sure why a Winter Storm Watch as it looks to more of a wind issue and thus should have been a High Wind Watch. High Wind Warning: Take Action! Sustained, strong winds with even stronger gusts are happening. Seek shelter. If you are driving, keep both hands on the wheels and slow down. NWS offices issue this product based on local criteria.High Wind Watch: Be Prepared! Sustained, strong winds are possible. Secure loose outdoor items and adjust plans as necessary so you're not caught outside. NWS offices issue this product based on local criteria.

Not sure why a Watch for this as this looks to be more wind then anything else. Should be a high wind watch