Pre-Christmas Blizzard Saturday update: Snowfall expected, wind gusts, wind chill

We are still in a windy winter storm. The effects are gradually waning, but we still have to endure snow, wind and cold today. Here’s the latest information on what to expect around Michigan.

Weather patterns can be divided into two scenarios across Michigan.

Blizzard conditions persist along the entire Lake Michigan shoreline and within 20 miles, most of Michigan’s northwest interior, and most of the Upper Peninsula.

The rest of Lower Michigan will see gusts of winds from 45 mph yesterday to 35 mph. You can also expect extreme cold winds and frequent periods of snowfall. However, the snow flakes very small due to the Arctic air. It can snow all day in places with small flakes and can only get an inch of snow.

Related: ‘Don’t drive’: Kent County officials warn drivers not to travel on Christmas Eve

Related: How to spot signs of frostbite as dangerous subzero wind chill persists

As of 9:00 a.m. on December 24, snowstorm warnings and winter weather advisories are located at:

The blizzard warning is about two counties wide and extends across Lake Michigan and then into northern Michigan. Most of the Upper Peninsula is under blizzard warning. The blizzard warning will normally end at 7:00 PM today.

Lake effect snow will continue to fall, but Arctic air today will gradually reduce the size of the snowflakes. In the blizzard warning area, it is expected that there will still be a lot of snow today.

Here’s the forecast for more snow from 9am today through tomorrow night. At this point, we can say that the storm is essentially over. The following is divided into 12-hour intervals. These are cumulative snowfall amounts, not 12-hour snowfall amounts.

By tonight, the Lower Northwest Lake Effect Area should have another 3-6 inches of snow, including the Traverse City area.

In the Southwest Lower, the size of the snowflakes is so small that no further accumulation is seen. I call it 1-3 inches above SW Lower. The rest of Lower Michigan will be less than an inch.

By Christmas morning, the Lower Northwest, including the Traverse City area, will again have 5 to 10 inches of snow from now. An additional 2-4 inches of snow is expected in the Southwest Lower by Christmas morning.

By Sunday evening, when the snow cover had finished, the map below shows the total additional snowfall since Saturday morning.

In the western third of Lower Michigan, gusts are still at blizzard levels in excess of 35 mph. Outside the blizzard area, 35 mph gusts blow all day long, but not enough snowstorms to call it a proper blizzard.

Of course, we all end up in very cold temperatures. The combination of cold temperatures and strong winds creates dangerously cold winds.

The coldest wind chills are actually along Michigan’s southern border. Monroe, Adrian and Coldwater experience wind chills of around -15 degrees. The rest of us have a few degrees of wind chill on either side of zero.

To sum up today for most of us, it’s a nasty, very cold wind, a bitter wind chill, and needle-like snowflakes.

Stay safe and use common sense. We have not yet had a day to drive statewide only for emergencies within blizzard hazard zones, unless it is absolutely necessary outside of blizzard hazard zones.

To see all the latest storm coverage, check out the MLive Weather page here.