Winter Weather — St. Joseph, Michigan

2026-01-18 to 2026-01-19 · St. Joseph, 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 at times due to snow and blowing snow. While storm total snow accumulations were only reported in the 1 to 3 inch range, the combination of snow and blowing snow produced hazardous travel conditions. The heaviest snowfall rates of the event occurred during the early morning of January 19th as a dominant band of snow tracked across the county. 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 1306257. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.