The timeline for heavy lake snow shows when which areas will be blasted

I’ll walk you through the path of the snow masses that are expected to move across Michigan.

Because it is lake effect snow, the snow relies on cold air. The cold air will gradually shift into Michigan on Wednesday and spread throughout the state by sunrise on Thursday.

This means the Upper Peninsula will see heavy snow first as the cold air comes from Canada. Western Lower Michigan will see heavier snow Wednesday afternoon and especially Wednesday night. There will be small areas of lake effect snow on the western side of Lower Michigan today and Tuesday evening. Snow will initially be limited to the Traverse City area south along the Lake Michigan shoreline to Ludington.

This is really Wednesday and Thursday snow.

Here’s the radar forecast to give you a general idea of ​​how the snow expands Wednesday and moves into the eastern lowlands late Wednesday and Thursday.

Let’s summarize what the radar should look like at key moments in our lives.

It will still snow sparingly on Wednesday morning. Snow will be occasionally heavy in lake effect bands over southwest Lower Michigan, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, over much of northern UP, and even in the far northeast portion of Lower Michigan. The rest of Lower Michigan will not see any significant snowfall Wednesday morning.

The snow will become more widespread by Wednesday evening. Most of western Lower Michigan will experience heavy snowfall. The Upper Peninsula will be snowy. From Ann Arbor and Detroit north to Saginaw Bay, there will be bands of lake-effect snow and sections of lightly covered roads.

Thursday morning radar expected below shows an area of ​​heavy snow from the Traverse City area south along Lake Michigan into the Kalamazoo area. The Kalamazoo snow could extend as far east as Jackson and Ann Arbor Thursday morning.

Thursday evening will show decreasing lake effect snow coverage. There will still be some bands of occasional heavy lake snow around the Traverse City to Gaylord area.

Total snowfall accumulations at various times are listed below. We no longer have to worry about accumulated snow over Southeast Michigan and Central Michigan by Wednesday morning. An area southwest of Grand Rapids will already see several inches of snow. The heaviest snowfall in Lower Michigan will likely fall over Benzie, Manistee and Mason counties Wednesday morning.

Snow will begin accumulating across western Lower Michigan beginning Wednesday evening. From Ann Arbor north to Saginaw there will be less than an inch of snow.

Thursday morning will be very snowy and very treacherous across the western third of Lower Michigan. Also note the slightly heavier band of snow extending along I-94 into Ann Arbor. There could be an inch or two of snow and slickness on I-94 and I-69 Thursday morning.

Final snow totals will be 6 to 12 inches in the purple and pink areas of western Lower and northern UP. Note that the Grand Rapids area will experience heavy snow southwest of Grand Rapids and light snow northeast of Grand Rapids. Even the Thumb could see 5 to 10 cm of snow. The Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Bay City areas are expected to see only 1 to 3 inches of snow.

Because this is a lake effect snow event, snow amounts vary greatly as you travel through Michigan. Be aware of rapidly changing road conditions in the lake effect snow strips. Stay tuned to MLive with the near-term forecast here.