The first snowstorm of the 2009-2010 winter season swept into Southwest Lower Michigan on Thursday evening, December the third and persisted into Friday morning. Several inches of slushy snow accumulated on roads from Muskegon to Grand Rapids.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS GRR wrote it up.
The first snowstorm of the 2009-2010 winter season swept into Southwest Lower Michigan on Thursday evening, December the third and persisted into Friday morning. Several inches of slushy snow accumulated on roads from Muskegon to Grand Rapids. Snow totals ranged from less than an inch from Lansing to Jackson, to over a foot northwest of Grand Rapids in a narrow area from northern Ottawa County into central Kent County.
The area of heaviest snow resulted from a band of strong updrafts, similar to summer thunderstorms, that trained over this area Thursday night. Thundersnow was indeed reported with some lightning seen in Ottawa County. A second area of higher snow totals was centered near Plainwell in southeast Allegan County. Several accidents were reported due to snowy and slippery roads.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 3, 6:56 PM EST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 656 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009 LATEST UPDATE...AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS...(334 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS LOWER MICHIGAN TONIGHT AND COMBINE WITH COLDER AIR MOVING ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN TO BRING THE FIRST SNOWSTORM OF THE SEASON TO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. FROM 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM SOUTH HAVEN TO MUSKEGON AND OVER TO GRAND RAPIDS...WITH LANSING AND JACKSON GETTING LESSER AMOUNTS. THE LOW WILL PULL EAST ON FRIDAY BUT LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND. && .SHORT TERM...(334 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) (TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT) WENT WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR SOUTH HALF OF THE COASTAL COUNTIES ALONG WITH KENT COUNTY FOR A LAKE ENHANCED SYNOPTIC SNOW EVENT. UPPER LOW MOVING FROM IOWA INTO SOUTHERN WISCONSIN ATTM. REPORTS OF UP TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IN IOWA TODAY IN NARROW MESOSCALE BANDING ASSOCIATED WITH AREA OF MID LEVEL F-GEN. THAT WILL BE TRANSLATING EAST AND GETTING A LAKE ENHANCED BOOST IN WSW FLOW. THE BEST SYNOPTIC FORCING WILL COINCIDE WITH THE AREAS FAVORED IN 260 DEGREE FLOW LAKE EFFECT EVENT SO IT LOOKS LIKE A BULLSEYE IN THE OTTAWA AND ALLEGAN COUNTY AREA. NORTHERN VAN BUREN...SOUTHERN MUSKEGON AND SOUTHWEST KENT COUNTIES ALSO FAVORED IN THIS SCENARIO. WAS THINKING OF ADDING BARRY AND MASON/OCEANA EVEN WITH SUB ADVISORY SNOW AMOUNTS FORECAST SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST REAL SNOW EVENT OF THE SEASON BUT HELD OFF FOR NOW. THE ADVISORY MIGHT NEED TO BE EXPANDED OVERNIGHT IF ACCUMS/DRIVING CONDITIONS WARRANT. BEGAN THE ADVISORY AT 00Z EVEN THOUGH LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE CONTINUING ACROSS WESTERN LOWER THIS AFTERNOON AND SOME LIGHT ACCUMS ARE EXPECTED BEFORE THEN. WARM SKIN TEMPS SHOULD KEEP ANY ACCUMS LIGHT AND ROADS SHOULD ONLY BE WET UNTIL LATER THIS EVENING WHEN SKIN TEMPS BEGIN TO FALL AS COLDER AIR ADVECTS IN. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE THE FRIDAY MORNING COMMUTE. THE BEST LIFT WILL BE MOVING EAST WITH THE VORT MAX BY 12Z FRIDAY BUT LES SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY AS MOISTURE AND INVERSION REMAIN DEEP. ROADS SHOULD IMPROVE IN THE AFTERNOON AS AIR TEMPS RISE TO THE LOWER 30S. ABOVE FREEZING SKIN TEMPS SHOULD ALSO TEND TO LIMIT ACCUMS DURING THE DAY FRIDAY DESPITE INVERSION HEIGHTS REMAINING AROUND 8 TO 10 KFT. INVERSION SLOWLY COMES DOWN FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING AS UPPER TROUGH FLATTENS AND SFC RIDGING BUILDS IN BY SATURDAY NIGHT. && .LONG TERM...(355 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) (SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) THE PRIMARY FORECAST CHALLENGE IS DEALING WITH THE TIMING... LOCATION AND OCCURRENCE OF SNOW FALL. THE MID RANGE MODELS HAVE LARGE DIFFERENCES AND CONFIDENCE IS LOW. MAIN CHANGE TO GRIDS WAS TO DECREASE POPS MONDAY NIGHT... AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGES IN AND A BREAK MAY OCCUR. OVERALL... POPS BROAD BRUSHED LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY WITH AT LEAST 7/10THS CLOUD COVER. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY AROUND WEDNESDAY. THE 12Z ECMWF TAKES THE LOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY AND THE 12Z GFS TAKES IT SOUTHEAST OF TOLEDO. WITH NO WARMING EXPECTED OVER THE AREA... THIS SYSTEM COULD BRING A LOT OF SNOW WITH EITHER TRACK. HOWEVER CLIMATOLOGICALLY... OUR FORECAST AREA WOULD BE CLOSER TO THE SWEET SPOT WITH A TRACK TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. LOW TEMPERATURES WILL BE AROUND AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR... WHILE HIGHS WILL BE AROUND NORMAL SUNDAY AND MONDAY AND FALL TO BELOW NORMAL LEVELS FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. NORMALS ARE HIGHS IN THE MID 30S AND LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. && .AVIATION...(656 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) LAKE ENHANCED SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL OCCUR FOR THE EARLY PORTION OF THE TAF PERIOD...WITH HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS DEVELOPING FROM 03Z ON. UNTIL 03Z...WESTERN TAFS MAY DIP IN AND OUT OF IFR WITH THE HEAVIER SNOW BURSTS. WOULD EXPECT SOME OF THE LOWEST CIGS AND VSBYS TO DEVELOP CLOSER TO 06Z AND THEREAFTER...WITH MODELS SHOWING LAKE EFFECT SNOW BANDS AFFECTING MKG AND GRR IN PARTICULAR. IFR CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY PREDOMINATE FOR THESE TERMINALS THROUGHOUT THE OVERNIGHT AND MID MORNING HOURS. CANNOT EVEN RULE OUT LIFR FOR MKG AND GRR AT TIMES IF HEAVY SNOW DEVELOPS BUT DID NOT INCLUDE THOSE IN THE TAFS. VSBYS WERE BROUGHT DOWN TO 1SM BEGINNING AROUND 06Z BUT OCCASIONAL VSBYS LOWER THAN THAT ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE HEAVIER SNOW BANDS. A RETURN TO MVFR/VFR CONDITIONS AS PREDOMINATE WILL LIKELY HOLD OFF UNTIL LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON FOR MKG AND GRR. THE OTHER TERMINALS WILL LIKELY STAY MVFR FOR THE OVERNIGHT AND MORNING HOURS...ALTHOUGH TRENDS WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED ESPECIALLY FOR AZO. DEEPER MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO EXIT THE AREA BY THE AFTERNOON AND A PERIOD OF DRIER CONDITIONS AND HIGHER CIGS/VSBYS IS EXPECTED. && .MARINE...(334 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) EXTENDED THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AS WINDS AND WAVES REMAIN HIGH...BUT BELOW GALES. && .HYDROLOGY...(334 PM EST THU DEC 3 2009) NO HYDRO ISSUES THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK AS PRECIP WILL BE SNOW AND ANY RUNOFF WILL BE MINIMAL. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MUSKEGON...OTTAWA...KENT...ALLEGAN AND VAN BUREN TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. LM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ST. JOSEPH TO MANISTEE THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. && SYNOPSIS: OSTUNO SHORT TERM: OSTUNO LONG TERM: IOD AVIATION: HOVING MARINE: OSTUNO HYDROLOGY: OSTUNO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 609 AM EST THU DEC 3 2009 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-041115- MASON-LAKE-OSCEOLA-CLARE-OCEANA-NEWAYGO-MECOSTA-ISABELLA-MUSKEGON- MONTCALM-GRATIOT-OTTAWA-KENT-IONIA-CLINTON-ALLEGAN-BARRY-EATON- INGHAM-VAN BUREN-KALAMAZOO-CALHOUN-JACKSON- 609 AM EST THU DEC 3 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ACCUMULATING LAKE EFFECT SNOW FALL IS EXPECTED LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. LOCALLY UP TO 5 INCHES COULD ACCUMULATE BY DAYBREAK. THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ARE FORECASTED ROUGHLY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 131. WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING BELOW FREEZING...SLICK DRIVING CONDITIONS ARE PREDICTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL PERSIST THROUGH SATURDAY. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS ARE FORECASTED...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 131. TEMPERATURES ARE PREDICTED TO STAY BELOW FREEZING FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...THUS HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY PERSIST. ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ844>849-041115- ST JOSEPH TO SOUTH HAVEN MI-SOUTH HAVEN TO HOLLAND MI- HOLLAND TO GRAND HAVEN MI-GRAND HAVEN TO WHITEHALL MI- WHITEHALL TO PENTWATER MI-PENTWATER TO MANISTEE MI- 609 AM EST THU DEC 3 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINDS AND WAVES WILL REMAIN HAZARDOUS TO SMALL CRAFT THROUGH TONIGHT. HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS WILL REDUCE THE VISIBILITY AT TIMES THROUGH TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WINDS AND WAVES WILL REMAIN HAZARDOUS TO SMALL CRAFT THROUGH THE SATURDAY. HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS WILL REDUCE THE VISIBILITY AT TIMES THROUGH SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. MJS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Over a foot of snow was reported across portions of east central Ottawa county, where 15 inches fell in Marne and 14 inches fell in Coopersville.
Nearly a foot of snow was reported across portions of Kent county, where 13.2 inches fell in Walker and 11.7 inches fell in Cannonsburg.
Up to around six to seven inches of snow fell across portions of northwest Ionia county.
Up to seven inches of snow fell across portions of Muskegon county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 208856, 208857, 208858, 208957.