Day 1 School Closing Outlook
Issued: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 3:26 PM
Summary:
A combination of strong, gusty winds, light snowfall, and the risk for a widespread flash freeze will lead to low probabilities for snow days or delays on Thursday morning.
Day 1 Update:
No significant changes to our School Closing Outlook for Thursday morning as overall forecast expectations remain on track. We have opted to introduce a narrow coridoor of
15-30% risk along the US-31 corridor where the combination of the strongest wind gusts, now up to 55 MPH, most rapid onset flash freeze conditions, and heaviest snowfall are expected. Still, even in this area, impacts and resulting school closures will be isolated to widely scattered at best.
Previous Discussion:
Strong gusty winds on Wednesday, and especially on Wednesday evening, will exceed 30 MPH and could gust as high as 45-50 MPH along the Lake Michigan Shoreline and inland portions of far Southwest Michigan. These gusty winds could cause some isolated power outages and result in 1 or 2 school closings Thursday morning.
Additionally, much colder air will move into the region after 6:00 PM Wednesday evening as temperatures fall from near 50°F to as low as 25°F on Thursday morning.
This rapid and significant drop in temperatures will have 2 distinct effects overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning that will further support the risk for at least a couple of school closures or delays.
First, scattered rain showers will transition to snow showers, resulting in new snow accumulations of around a dusting to as much as 2 inches by 7:00 AM Thursday morning.
Additionally, any water left on roadways Wednesday night will undergo a rapid change over to ice in a process known as a flash freeze. This will create scattered areas of slick roadways, especially on secondary roadways and in rural areas North of I-96 where temperatures are expected to be coldest.
Graphical Forecast:
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