Snow in the region is back in full force as a winter storm warning will remain in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service Gaylord, bringing with it widespread blowing snow and more hazardous weather conditions.
A clipper system passing through from Canada this week affected much of northern lower Michigan Tuesday and Wednesday and is anticipated to bring an additional foot of snow into Thursday morning. Andy Sullivan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Gaylord, said lighter lake effect snow will continue into Friday and this weekend as temperatures slightly warm over the next few days. According to Sullivan, there was approximately 14 inches of snow recorded one mile east of Maple City through early Tuesday.
“Then there is the potential for another system next week,” Sullivan said Wednesday morning. “A lot of the snow we’ve had over the last week has been pretty localized… It happens a lot where there’s a big change in a small distance, especially with visibility, you can drive into a white out… but the good news is that it’s slowly warming up over the next few days, so you might get a break from the intense lake effect that we’ve had over the last week.”
Sullivan said while the lake effect and amount of snowfall received is more typical for this time of year, getting it all at once in a short period of time has been a bit unusual. Some of the northwest lower snowbelts, including Gaylord, Mancelona, and Alba, even received much higher localized snowfall amounts of up to four feet of snow this week.
Outdoor winter recreational activities have and will continue to benefit from the recent weather patterns though compared to last year’s lack of snow. Stef Staley, Grand Traverse Lighthouse executive director, said their Holiday Lantern Lit Hike set for Dec. 6 and 7 is still a go, and will look a lot different from last year when there was no snow on the ground. For those registered for the hike, the lanterns will light the way to different stops along the trail that celebrate holidays throughout the year. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will come through to plow the trail if it gets too deep so it is hikeable for everyone of all ages, including dogs, Staley added.
“We’re quite excited because we didn’t have a whole lot of snow last year. Even all of our snow shoe hikes turned into regular hikes because there was no snow at times,” Staley said. “It’s going to be a great lantern lit hike this weekend and we’re hoping that we have a lot more snow coming up for January, February, and March for the snowshoe hikes… The more snow the better.”
Kerry Kelly of the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes helps to maintain the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail and said despite the recent snowfall, they have not received enough on the trail yet to get the groomer out. The issue they’re seeing is the lake effect snow, which tends to pass over areas closest to the lake and at lower elevations. However, the Palmer Woods trail has received quite a bit of snow, as well as Alligator Hill, Kettles Trail, and even the Dune Climb.
“We’re loving what we got and were hoping for more snow,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of activities that we promote during the winter season — a lot of snow shoeing and cross country skiing, fat tire biking, so we’re excited about winter being here… Basically this is providing us with a good base that we can work on, as long as it stays cold, and then we’ll get some more snow to build on the base that we have.”
