snow so far this season map.jpg
This map shows the snowfall so far this winter.
(NOAA)
Snowfall amounts are all over the board this winter in Michigan. Most areas are below normal on snowfall. Some areas are much below normal with snowfall.
The map above shows the total snowfall so far this winter. A few things pop out on the map.
First, there has been a real lack of snowfall in the Saginaw Valley. The green area represents only 6 inches to 12 inches of snow this winter. The west side of Lower Michigan has had 25 inches to 40 inches of snow, which is actually much lower than normal. Grand Rapids should normally have had 52 inches of snow so far, but has only tallied 28 inches. Up the road in the northwest Lower snowbelts, snow has actually been fairly plentiful. The red-shaded area in northwest Lower has had 70 inches to 100 inches so far, which is close to normal. Recent lake effect has also helped the Lake Superior shoreline catch up on snowfall. Some areas are over 100 inches now.
This graph compares snow so far this winter to normal snow to date and last year to date.
The graph shows normal snow to date in blue, snow so far this year in red and last year to date in green. Detroit has had half the snow of last year. Grand Rapids has only had 28 inches this winter and was over 66 inches already last year. Kalamazoo is close to half of last year to this point.
Other places in southern Lower aren't too far off from normal. The reason for near-normal snowfall -- the big snowstorm in late November.
Right now, widespread snow in all of southern Lower looks pretty light for the next 10 days. I'd say in the next 10 days, southern Lower could have 1 inch to 6 inches of snow. That's about normal to a little lower than normal for a 10-day period in February.
However, fairly cold air is coming in next week, and that could set off areas of heavy lake effect in the snowbelts. There may be areas getting over a foot of snow, all told, over the next 10 days.
If you have any questions, please ask below.
MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has been forecasting Michigan weather for more than 25 years. He's been chief meteorologist at three television news stations in Michigan, and he's an avid gardener and hunter. Email him at [email protected] and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark