Michigan’s weather this week shows a turn-around from deep winter feel

This week is obviously starting out with a really wintry feel. The January cold won’t last all week. Storm systems will be pretty sparse too.

The cold, wintry days of this week are today and Tuesday. With the wintry cold and a northwest-west wind, lake-effect snow will happen this afternoon through Tuesday morning. There will be three spots of meaningful snowfall.

Wednesday has a quick Alberta Clipper snow system moving through northern Michigan. It won’t be a robust snow-maker with just a small accumulation far north.

Then expect a slightly warmer pattern into the weekend before the next widespread weather-maker. This next weather-maker appears to lean more toward rain for most of us.

Here’s the rain and snow area projections through the week. I picked the big perspective so you get an idea of what’s coming our way.

Surface weather forecast for Tuesday morning to Sunday, December 3NOAA

This afternoon’s and tonight’s snowfall will only have accumulations more than one inch in the classic snowbelt areas of Michigan.

Total snowfall from Monday afternoon to 7 a.m. Tuesday.NOAA

From east of Traverse City to Kalkaska to Mancelona and Gaylord there will be another three to six inches of snow. In southwest Lower Michigan look for two to four inches of snow late today into tonight for Kalamazoo, Allegan, Paw Paw, Dowagiac and Three Rivers. Grand Rapids should only have an inch or two.

Many parts of the Upper Peninsula will have three to six inches of additional snow by Tuesday morning.

The rest of us get another inch of snow here and there.

Wednesday’s snow should be confined to the northern half of Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The snow should only mount up to less than two inches.

Total snowfall forecast for Wednesday, November 29NOAA

Temperatures are going to be cold to start the week and moderate by Thursday. In fact the southern part of Lower Michigan will actually become very mild for the first day of December.

High temperature forecast from Tuesday, November 28 to Sunday, December 3NOAA

Thursday may have afternoon temperatures close to 50 degrees for Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Jackson, Flint, Ann Arbor and Detroit.

The next weather system should move in as we continue the warming phase, so more rain is expected than snow by next weekend.