Heavy rain and widely scattered severe storms capable of large hail, damaging winds, and possibly a tornado are expected over portions of the central and southern Plains into the Lower Missouri Valley. Unseasonable warmth will continue for a few more days across the Midwest and Southeast where several daily record highs could fall. Read More >
Overview
Arctic airmass brought cold temperatures and lake effect snow to the area. SW Lower MI was most impacted by the lake effect snow as a single band of 1-2" per hour snowfall rates dropped into Berrien/Cass counties around 8 pm on January 6th and lingered overnight. After a lull in lake effect on Friday morning, another dominant band formed during afternoon and affected South Haven to north of Three Rivers during the afternoon. 8 to 14 inches fell overnight across northern Berrien County with 48 hour totals of 19 to 24 inches across far northern/northeast Berrien County. Wind chills Thursday night into Friday morning ranged from 5 to 15 below zero.A combination of several lake effect snow bands spread a swath of heavy snow across a narrow corridor of counties in southwest Lower Michigan. As is typical of this type of snow, the accumulation came fast and the gradient of snow was tight.
Photos:
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| Heavy Lake Effect Snowfall in Dowagiac, MI. Photo courtesy of Chicago & Midwest Storm Chasers @ChicagoMWeather | Snow covered this vehicle in Dowagiac, MI. Photo courtesy of Maci Tetrick and Michael E. | Lake Effect Snow makes a winter wonderland on these shrubs outside of a home on the Cass County / Van Buren County Line. Photo provided by Matt Rudkin @MattRudkinWx |
Radar:
Radar evolution of lake effect snow bands:
Initially light lake effect snow showers were ongoing from the previous event with westerly flow of 15 to 25 knots, a few gusts to around 30 knots at times in the evening. Better accumulation began when a W-E oriented band developed from Lake MI around 6 PM EST Thursday from roughly Stevensville, MI (Berrien Co) to Dowagiac, MI (Cass Co). This dropped southward through about 8:30 PM EST before weakening.
Meanwhile, the single band connected up to Lake Superior and huddled somewhat near the Lake MI Shoreline (W-E initially) dropped steadily southward through the late afternoon/evening hours with 1-2" snow rates-causing accidents, visibilities less than 1/2 mile (blowing/drifting/falling snow), and road closures (US 131, and others). This band entered Berrien County around 8 PM EST Thursday evening and spread into Cass county (Michigan).
By 2 AM EST Friday, the band took on a more NNW-SSE orientation, extending from Benton Harbor (KBEH) down to the Edwardsburg, MI area. There were numerous videos on Twitter and reports of the accidents from a group of chasers following the band.
Another dominant band formed from South Haven to north of Three Rivers in the mid-afternoon Friday.
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| 24 hour loop of 0.5 degree Reflectivity from KIWX radar of lake effect banding (6 pm January 6 to 6 pm January 7) |
Storm Reports
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Public Information Statement National Weather Service Northern Indiana 448 PM EST Fri Jan 7 2022 ...SNOWFALL REPORTS OVER PAST 48 HOURS... Location Amount Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Indiana... ...La Porte County... 0.8 W La Porte 1.0 in 1258 AM 01/07 41.61N/86.73W ...St. Joseph County... 2 S Indian Village 3.2 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.69N/86.23W Granger 1.8 ENE 3.0 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.75N/86.11W 1 N New Carlisle 3.0 in 0100 PM 01/07 41.71N/86.51W South Bend 3.3 SE 2.0 in 0800 AM 01/07 41.64N/86.23W South Bend 4.6 SE 1.2 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.62N/86.22W Mishawaka 3.9 ENE 1.1 in 0710 AM 01/07 41.68N/86.10W ...Michigan... ...Berrien County... Watervliet 22.0 in 0100 PM 01/07 42.19N/86.26W Eau Claire 19.0 in 1245 AM 01/07 41.99N/86.30W 3 WSW Sandy Beach 12.0 in 0300 AM 01/07 42.04N/86.23W 3 S Watervliet 10.0 in 0100 PM 01/07 42.15N/86.25W Buchanan 1.3 WNW 8.5 in 0600 AM 01/07 41.84N/86.39W Niles 2.7 W 8.5 in 0800 AM 01/07 41.84N/86.30W Shoreham 2.0 SE 8.1 in 0800 AM 01/07 42.03N/86.49W 3 ESE Berrien Springs 6.5 in 0617 PM 01/06 41.93N/86.30W St. Joseph 1.5 SSE 6.0 in 0700 AM 01/07 42.08N/86.48W Buchanan 1.4 ESE 5.8 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.82N/86.34W Bertrand 5.0 in 0800 AM 01/07 41.77N/86.26W 1 WNW Sodus 5.0 in 0900 AM 01/07 42.05N/86.39W Shoreham 2.0 SE 4.8 in 0800 AM 01/07 42.03N/86.49W Saint Joseph 4.7 in 0900 AM 01/07 42.10N/86.49W Bertrand 4.5 in 0800 AM 01/07 41.77N/86.26W Stevensville 1.7 SSE 4.4 in 0845 AM 01/07 41.99N/86.51W 3 ESE Berrien Springs 4.3 in 0751 AM 01/07 41.93N/86.30W Buchanan 1.3 WNW 4.0 in 0600 AM 01/07 41.84N/86.39W St. Joseph 2.8 SSE 4.0 in 0700 AM 01/07 42.06N/86.47W Buchanan 1.4 ESE 3.5 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.82N/86.34W Stevensville 1.7 SSE 3.5 in 0845 AM 01/07 41.99N/86.51W St. Joseph 1.5 SSE 3.0 in 0700 AM 01/07 42.08N/86.48W ...Cass County... 3 E Magician Lake 15.0 in 1120 PM 01/06 42.06N/86.11W 1 SSE Indian Lake 15.0 in 0344 AM 01/07 41.98N/86.20W ...St. Joseph County... Three Rivers 2.4 NE 1.5 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.97N/85.60W 0.7 S Three Rivers 1.4 in 0700 AM 01/07 41.93N/85.63W Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.
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