School Closing Outlook For Friday 03/13/2026
- Jonah Drake (Owner & Co-Founder)
- 50 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Day 1 School Closing Outlook
Forecast Valid: Friday, March 13, 2026
Forecast Issued: Thursday, March 12, 2026, 4:07 PM
Forecasters: Jonah Drake
Summary:
There is a “Likely” risk of school closures and/or early dismissals on Friday across all of West Michigan due to damaging winds, late-season snowfall, and blowing and drifting snow.
Discussion:
A strong spring storm system will work its way through the Great Lakes region, bringing strong winds and a return of winter weather across Michigan. The brunt of the damaging wind potential will be focused here in West Michigan, which, combined with the new snowfall expected across our northern forecast area, will result in scattered to perhaps widespread school closures or early dismissals to finish out this school week.
Current computer weather model guidance depicts a strong system working it’s way through the region tonight with very strong, to even damaging wind gusts of 45-65 MPH expected at the surface. As a result, the National Weather Service has issued High Wind Warnings for almost the entire area, except for Lake, Osceola, and Clare Counties.
These strong to damaging winds will begin very early Friday morning and continue through Friday evening, and will have the potential to result in scattered to widespread tree damage and power outages, as well as create difficult driving conditions for high-profile vehicles, like school buses.
Furthermore, along and north of I-96, these winds will combine with light to moderate snowfall, which will create widespread areas of blowing and drifting snow that will reduce visibility and cause the formation of snow drifts on roadways, especially in open areas. Some isolated blizzard-like or white-out conditions are a distinct possibility.
As aforementioned, the winds, though diminishing slightly with northern extent, especially along US-10, will mix with snow and create areas of drifting snow and reduced visibility. This may result in some closures or early dismissals in of itself in our northern areas, even if power stays on. However, the snow accumulations in this region, especially along and north of US-10 east of US-131, are expected to be much more impactful.
These snow accumulations will range from around 1 inch near I-96 to as much as 6 inches by 7:00 AM on Friday morning near Clare and Reed City. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Osceola, Clare, Isabella, Mecosta, and Lake Counties.
As snow totals increase, so does the threat of closings, especially when considering that the snow will not stop after the morning school commute and will continue throughout much of the day on Friday, so schools will likely not have much choice, as road conditions will continue to deteriorate.
Graphical Forecast:
