We are seeing some lake effect streamers making into as far southeast as Chester County this morning and don't be surprised if we see a couple more snow showers during the day. We have already reached our high temperature for the day at about 130 this morning. Today’s temperatures will remain below freezing in most spots with wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Our top 10 coldest start to December looks like it will continue for at least the next week, and we may see a couple of snow chances over the next few days. The first one overnight Friday night looks very light while the next potential event toward Sunday morning could bring some locations their “largest” snow event this season. Of course, that would not be hard to do as our largest "event" has only been 0.5" Behind whatever happens on Sunday another very cold air mass moves in on Sunday night and lasts through Tuesday with temperatures from Sunday through Tuesday remaining in the mid to upper 20's for highs with lows in the teens.
Earlier in the week, models were showing a swath of 6-10" across my area from the two clippers combined. Now it appears we may get only a couple inches from today's wave and nothing Saturday.
One positive is now all of the snow should melt during the extended warm-up and the street construction outside my home will finally get finished.
Some weather history for December 11th 1988 - Arctic cold invaded the central and eastern U.S. Sault Ste Marie MI reported a record low of 14 degrees below zero, and International Falls MN was the cold spot in the nation with a low of 25 degrees below zero. Temperatures remained below zero all day over parts of eastern Upper Michigan and northern New England. (The National Weather Summary) and in 2008 - A rare snowstorm swept across parts of south Louisiana and Mississippi, blanketing the area with snow. Nearly 8 inches of snow fell over parts of Louisiana. These conditions caused schools and bridges to close and left thousands of residents without power (Associated Press). (NCDC)
We now have 10 days of December 2025 in the record books and as been stated before this is one of the coldest starts to any December here in west Michigan. At Grand Rapids the current mean is 21.7 that is a departure from average of 11.4 the highest so far for the month is 37 on the 10th and the lowest is +1 on the 8th there has been 0.97” of precipitation that is +0.12” there has been 5.8” of snowfall a departure of +0.3” all 11 days have had at least 1” of snow on the ground it is way too early to tell if this December will have wall to wall snow cover but here in Grand Rapids the only years when December had 1” or more of snow on the ground for all 31 days were 1978, 1972, 1919 and 1903.
The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 37/25 there was 0.42” of precipitation and 1.6” of snowfall. There is 7” of snow on the ground the highest wind gust was 35 MPH out of the NW. For today the average H/L is 37/26 the record high of 63 was in 1949 the coldest high of 10 was in 1995 the record low of -3 was in 1962 the warmest low of 49 was in 1899 the wettest of 1.12” was in 1899 the most snowfall of 14.2” was in 2000 the most on the ground was 14” in 1972.
Detailed Forecast for Grand Rapids
Today
A chance of flurries before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. Light and variable wind.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of snow showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 29. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Snow showers. Low around 13. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Saturday
Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. West northwest wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Saturday Night
Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of snow showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 23.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8.
Monday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23.
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17.
Tuesday
Partly sunny, with a high near 32.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.