Winter Storm — Muskegon, Michigan

2019-01-29 to 2019-01-31 · Muskegon, Michigan

Event narrative

Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.

Wider weather episode

As an arctic air mass moved over the Midwest, lake effect snow increased over the eastern Lake Michigan shore and continued almost nonstop from January 29th to 31st. Normally a prolonged period of lake effect snow would lead to impressive snow totals, but the extremely cold air mass did not allow for efficient snowflake production. Nonetheless, the small snowflakes combined with gusty winds lead to a prolonged period of low visibility to near-blizzard conditions, especially along and west of US-131.

The lake effect snow finally ended Thursday evening, leaving behind an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow. The combination of falling snow, gusty winds, and light snow led to considerable blowing snow restricting visibilities across Lower Michigan for a prolonged period of time. In many areas, visibility was at or below 3 miles for days in a row, with extended periods of at or below 1/4 of a mile. There were hundreds of school closings during this period.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 800568. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.