Friday Storm Wrap
December 19th, 2008 at 6:20 pm by Bill Steffen under Bill's Blog, Weather
Here’s the snow totals in Michigan, (10.2″ in GRR is the snowiest day of 2008, the most snow on a single day since 2/3/07 and a record snowfall for the date), Wisconsin, (over a foot at a couple spots in the Milwaukee area), Illnois (up to 10″ in NE Illinois – an ice storm south of Chicago), Indiana and Ohio. We have over 400 schools closed this AM…when districts like East G.R. and Davenport University close – you can be sure almost everyone is closed. Over 350 flights cancelled/delayed at O’Hare.
Much of the Northern Hemisphere is very cold. It was -41 north of Lake Superior this Friday AM. Europe is heading toward one of the coldest months in many years. Verkoyansk in Siberia made it back to -35F today, their warmest temperature since November. They are more than 6 deg. colder than average for the month. All-Time Record Snowfalls for Spokane, WA 23.3” and Coeur D’Alene 26”. Out West: 3.6″ of snow at Las Vegas! That’s the most snow there ever in December. They had 1.45″ of rain at Palm Springs, CA., and 22″ of snow east of Los Angeles. Palmdale CA. had 6″ of snow. Needles, CA – on occasion the hottest place in the U.S. had a high of only 45 on Wednesday
You can check out NAM/GFS model data, the 120-hour total snowfall from the GFS model and the 84-hour total snowfall from the NAM model (note because the NAM is only 84-hours, it will have less snow than the GFS, which goes out 36 more hours). Here’s a wider view of expected snow. Click for the Great Lakes Radar Loop, latest surface observations, the eastern U.S. surface map. Michigan surface weather map, and the latest GRR NWS discussion.
Final note: The 6-10 day and 8-14 day outlook through the end of 2008 bring temperatures back to normal with above average precipitation. Keep coming to the blog and watching us on TV for the latest updates, leave a comment with your snow totals…and feel free to link the blog to your friends/co-workers, etc.
I am thinking a WSW will be issued by 4 PM…for Muskegon county to the north…
should i call off work..my job is right by the GRR airport
jevon what about kent…
Light snow is still falling here its now rather windy and yes there is a fire ball showing Thu the clouds (sun?) temp is now warmed all the way up to 29°
SlimJim
04 blue GTO…Kent will probably have an advisory…
Very unfortunate to see the sun this time of year!
At Leonard & 14th in beautiful Tallmadge Twp., the sun is peekig through and it’s 26.8 F. We measusred 12″ of new snow on average.
I’ve picked up about 11-13″ of snow, probably closer to the 12-13″ side though!
11″ ..8.5″ since I arrived at 5:30 here at work and we had 2.5 down at that time.
Sun trying to peak, but still snowing
Snow is about done here
10.3 Inches with a depth of 14.0
Going to go shovel…See you guys later!
Unofficially 11″ here. It is hard to measure with the wind blowing and the drifting, but I found a spot semi sheltered from the wind.
I cannot get out of my driveway. I am waiting on our plow guy, who is currently in GR digging out garbage trucks who are stuck. In no hurry. My husband can park at a neighbors (who is plowed).
Tyler, GR and Holland are both asking for the public to stay home because lots of roads are impassable. They are stating only go out if necessary.
What do Saturday night and Sunday look like – watches?? warnings?? forthcoming?
I think it’s finally starting to wind down here.
So, what are we talking about for the weekend? I work Sat till 11pm then have to be back in at 11 am Sunday. Will I be able to get home sat and in on Sunday morning? I go Gr to spring lake and back. I can forget my job if I can’t make the drive but I won’t drive in a blizzard! BTW I did enjoy today I had nowhere to go and it was neat being out in this with my 5 year old and just playing:)
I was ready to go into work, but when I opened the garage door there was a 2-4 foot snow pile across my driveway. I guess the neighborhood plow service got my front walk, but is still working on the driveways. I cleared a path for my car and then got stuck at the end of the driveway. Much effort was put into getting it moving again and none of the streets are plowed, so I just tried to get back in the garage. The car is back in the garage, the sun came out (for a moment), and my clothes are drying from the knees down.
I know what you mean Michelle. Thus the reason I didn’t go today. I plan on going out later and playing w/ my dog in the snow. She’s a HUGE snow lover!
Started clearing off the drive and have measured 11.5″ of new snow with 14.3″ on the ground have drifts of up it 18″ in the yard, so a very good snow pack to say the least.
SlimJim
snow has stopped here, we have 12in in the yard, and a 48in plow drift at the end of the driveway. I am completly blocked in. It will take a couple hours to clear it out. Wow what a snowfall. THIS WAS AWESOME!!!!!
WOW! This storm verified! I think we have at least a foot of snow!! Its awesome to see and I’m glad we didn’t get an ice storm in this area. IS there an artic blast poised to take control of our area now? There are sveral drifts of snow also! The wind remains strong but the snow is winding down. Where does that take our total snowfall for the season now? 40 inches of snow now??
Michelle-I don’t know where you are coming from but as I’m sure you know, its going to depend on the lake effect. Spring Lake does a great job of keeping roads pretty clear (they were 10 times better than the highways in GR today) but if its blowing and drifting with lake effect on top of that, you may not want to go in. I don’t think the next storm will have as much snow, but more blowing.
Well I would say that this storm lived up to its hype…and I did get an extra day off today too! I would have liked to have seen some thundersnow though, but hey I’ll take a foot. Highways are awful though. I wouldn’t go out unless you have to. Over two hours from GR to GH
Bill S. has a new post, winter storm watch for Saturday night into Sunday. It’s alittle windy here in Hastings. They are saying Sunday will not be a good day to be driving. Near Blizzard conditions.
The roads here in Grandville still are mainly unplowed. Makes for some fun driving–if you have 4WD that is. I just got back from lunch and was having a blast driving down the unplowed roads. Saw a couple of cars stuck unfortunately, but they were all being helped out.
I come from GR to Spring Lake and back home working 12 hour shifts on the weekends. I drove in a blizzard two years ago and won’t do it again. I ‘ll lose my job first (which I can’t afford to do). I-96 and M104 are my main roads. Sure makes a difference when you have no where to go-makes the snow nice and fun! I get out 11PM sat so don’t know if I’ll make it back. I get out then sunday too-maybe it’ll be done by then?
Dar (Wyoming) Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Remind me what are the criteria for a blizzard? I know it has something to do with wind speed
Blizzard
A blizzard means that the following conditions are expected to prevail for a period of 3 hours or longer…
* Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater; and
* considerable falling and/or blowing snow (i.e., reducing visibility frequently to less than ¼ mile).
I measured 12 inches of snow NE Grand Rapids by end-of-storm. Wind has been whipping snow off the roof and into 2-3 foot drifts close to the house, but out in the yard consistent depths ranged from 11 inches to 13 inches. This year, for the first time I paid for sidewalk plowing in addition to the driveway, and what a great investment!!
Had to shovel my little Jetta out of the snow bank, that was loads of fun. How the roads along 131 and 94? Allegan county seems to have the state roads cleared here, and working on the side streets. Was dragging my exhaust in the snow in some places though just trying to get across town.
Thanks Mike for the info. Quiet here now. Will relax and enjoy the snow when my daughter get back from Holland. Think maybe I should have started my Christmas shopping earlier?! Grandson offered to shovel in front of the garage, told him not to bother, Grandma’s not going anywhere.
I can close out this storm with 12-13″ and drifts up over 3′. This was everything I thought it would be!!
I would like to personally thank you all for all your reports, helpful information, good company, predictions, and everything else that you all have brought here to Bill’s Blog. This really is the best place on the net, you folks are awesome. I cannot wait to track the next storm with y’all!
THANK YOU! =D
I’m ready for round 2, off to Bill’s new post I go!!
I’m so glad that my new snowthrower has a 21″ high intake. I needed it today with those drifts! Took me 2 1/2 hours to get into my driveway! I got stuck…. badly…. but I had to get in to use my new snowthrower! And excellent timing on getting it, too!
Well we made it back safe and sound from Indy. We ended up not leaving until around 1:30pm yesterday. When we left, it was 46 and raining there. the drive home was fine- all the roads were clear, including 96 between 94 and US31. Of course, as soon as we hit Holland city limits, the roads were awful. Surprisingly, we didn’t see any slide offs the entire trip. but the trees were coated with ice, many dangerously close to snapping on power lines. Seems the Indy area also had an ice event not long before we arrived. Our silly Garman gave us wrong directions, and we ended up on a residential road that was all ice. My Jeep GC went ice skating! The four hour trip only took and extra 20 min. and that’s because of an accident on US 31 in Holland. So we were very blessed. Thank God a friend came over with his heavy duty snow thrower! I easily had around 14 inches of snow. My friend who was with me said her hubby reported 18 inches at their West Olive home. WOW!