Midwest Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Midwest Daily Snow

By Croix Christenson, Meteorologist Posted 1 year ago January 23, 2023

Arctic Air Poised to Return

Summary

Things remain on track for the next week or so to be active with many snow chances; most will be on the lighter end, but Wednesday looks like a powder day for southern Michigan! We have been waiting and the arctic air is finally poised to return by this upcoming weekend and likely linger into early February.

Short Term Forecast

Updates on Powder Tracker and Nordic Locations:

Thank you to everyone that has submitted nordic ski locations - love it! Keep them coming! Please use this form to submit any locations you would like to see added. I am about 50% done compiling a list of nordic locations to be added to the platform. 

I'm still working on creating a "powder tracker" for the Midwest and I hope to have a first draft by sometime in February. However, there are some issues with data feeds and if those continue, I may have to delay the powder tracker until next season, sadly.

Recent Snowfall:

Here is a look at the snow that fell on Sunday, which was mainly limited to resorts in southern Wisconsin and the southern half of lower Michigan:

Monday - Tuesday:

A quick-moving system will bring an area of light snow to the Lake Superior region and then south and east towards lower Michigan. The best odds of seeing a couple inches of snow will be for the south shore of Lake Superior and the northern half of lower Michigan. For the rest of the Midwest, it will mainly be light snow or snow showers with most resorts seeing an inch or less.

Here are the forecast precipitation types from Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon from the ECMWF:

 

Wednesday: 

Confidence is growing for a powder day for resorts in the southern half of lower Michigan on Wednesday. 

Snow quickly moves into the area on Wednesday morning and lasts into the evening with accumulations likely in the 2-6" range for most of the resorts in the south half of lower Michigan. The highest totals will be for the Detroit region resorts, where 3-6" looks likely. 

A couple of inches will also be possible in southeast Wisconsin, though models are still a little mixed at this time for that area. In addition, some light snow is expected for the Lake Superior resorts with a dusting to a couple of inches possible. 

Forecast precipitation types Wednesday afternoon:

Extended Forecast

Thursday - Friday:

The main story for Thursday will be lingering snow showers and lake effect snow off of both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. On Friday, a quick burst of snow likely pays the Midwest a visit and could bring a low-end powder day for some, particularly for the resorts that pick up some lake effect snow on Thursday. 

Saturday, January 28 to Saturday, February 4:

The main story during this period will be the much colder temperatures poised to visit the Midwest and the lake effect snow potential. Exactly how cold we get is still uncertain, but we will be in below normal temperatures for the first time since December. 

Here are the forecast temperature anomalies from the 28th of January to the 4th of February from the ECMWF, GFS, and Canadian ensembles (blues, greens, and purples are below normal - brrrr!):

The Canadian and GFS predict the coldest temperatures, while the ECMWF is the mildest, though still below normal. The Canadian model also keeps the core of the coldest air the furthest west, with portions of lower Michigan just slightly below normal. Keep in mind, this does not mean it will be frigid every day over this period, just that the average of the 7 days will be colder than normal. 

With the colder air poised to visit the Midwest, all three ensembles also are predicting the lake effect snow belts to pick up snow. Cold temperatures will preserve the snow (limit melt/freeze cycles) and lake effect snow will bring fresh snow periodically. 

-Croix

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Road Conditions:

Regions:

North Shore Lake Superior/Northeast Minnesota
Giants Ridge, Spirit Mountain, Mont du Lac, Lutsen, Bearskin, Loch Lomond, Mount Baldy

UP/South Shore Lake Superior/Lake Effect Snow Belt
Birkie, Whitecap, Powderhorn, ABR, Porkies, Snowriver, Ripley, Bohemia, Marquette Mtn, Ski Brule, Pine Mtn, Searchmont

Twin Cities Region
Trollhaugen, Wild Mountain, Powder Ridge, Hyland Hills, Afton Alps, Buck Hill, Welch Village, Mount Kato, Coffee Mill

Central Wisconsin
Granite Peak, Paul Bunyan, Nordic Mtn

Southern Wisconsin Region
Mt La Crosse, Cascade, Devil's Head, Tyrol, Little Switz, Sunburst, Wilmot, Alpine Valley(WI), Sundown(Iowa), Chestnut(Illinois)

Northern Lower Michigan/Traverse City Region/Lake Effect Snow Belt                                        Boyne Highlands, Nub's Nob, Boyne Mtn, Shanty Crk, Crystal Mtn, Caberfae, Treetops, Otsego

Southwest Lower Michigan/Grand Rapids Region/Kalamazoo Region/Lake Effect Snow Belt
Cannonsburg, Bittersweet, Timber Ridge, Swiss Valley

Southeast Lower Michigan/Eastern Michigan/Detroit Region
Mt Holly, Pine Knob, Mt Brighton, Alpine Valley(MI)

About Our Forecaster

Croix Christenson

Meteorologist

Croix grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he developed his passion for the outdoors and snow. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his BS and MS in Atmospheric Science. When not working, you will find Croix exploring his Duluth, Minnesota backyard by skiing, mountain biking, fishing, surfing, hiking with his dog Doppler, or just about any activity that gets him outside.

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