Winter Storm in Kalkaska, Michigan

Cooperative observer in Kalkaska reported a 24-hr total of 10.6 inches of snow by the morning of December 5. Additional reports from the area of 7-8 inches.

A clipper system moving into the region on December 4th brought more unseasonably cold air over the unseasonably warm Great Lakes, allowing lake effect influences to ramp up again. Some freezing drizzle was noted ahead of the clipper amid warm advection into the afternoon on the 4th, before a more potent area of snow crossed the area during the late afternoon, transitioning to intense NW flow lake effect snow bands by late evening as winds increased in the wake of the front, gusting as high as 53mph at Frankfort and Leland harbors. Snowfall totals under the heaviest bands by the morning of the 5th were largely 7-12 inches, with blowing and drifting snow further impacting travel conditions across the area.