Active Spring Like Pattern Across the Eastern Half of the Country

The second storm will track across central and eastern portion of the country this weekend. Heavy wintry precipitation will affect the northern Plains to the upper peninsula of Michigan. Severe thunderstorms are expected along and ahead of the cold front, where very large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes are possible from the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys to southern Plains. Read More >

Storm Summary

A deeply occluded surface storm, which tracked nearly due north from the Ohio River Valley on Sunday December 29, then moved into Michigan on the 30th during the morning hours. As the deep surface low tracked north toward northern Lake Michigan it, in combination with an equally deep upper level system brought in enough cold air to turn the rain that was falling to lake enhanced snow showers by late afternoon. Snow was aided considerably by moisture enhancement from Lake Michigan. Since the storm was fairly deep, 989 mb at 2 pm on the 30th, in combination with the 1033 mb high over Colorado, caused gusty southwest winds that gusted to near 40 mph at times Monday evening into Tuesday morning. The combination of snow and blowing snow caused hazardous travel conditions to develop from the late evening hours of the 30th into the 31st.