Winter Storm — Southern Berrien County, Michigan

2026-01-18 to 2026-01-19 · Southern Berrien County, Michigan

Event narrative

Light system snow during the late afternoon and evening of January 18th was followed by bands of lake effect snow. The combination of west wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph and the snowfall resulted in significant visibility reductions of less than one quarter of a mile at times due to snow and blowing snow. Storm total snow accumulations were in the 2 to 5 inch range. A report of 3.4 inches of snow was received 2.8 miles southeast of Shoreham, MI. Numerous slide-offs and accidents were reported across the region. In addition, wind chills dropped to as cold as 15 below during the early morning hours of January 19th extending into early afternoon.

Wider weather episode

System snow overspread southern Lower Michigan during the evening hours of January 18th which was followed by periods of lake effect snow on January 19th behind an arctic front. Storm total snowfall accumulations ranged from 2 to 6 inches across southwest Lower Michigan with the greatest amounts reported closer to Lake Michigan. Strong winds coupled with the snow and blowing snow produced significant visibility reductions at times and hazardous travel conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1306255. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.