Why Muskegon missed the brunt of recent snow and ice storms

Lisha Arino | By Lisha Arino | The Muskegon Chronicle
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on January 07, 2014 at 6:44 AM, updated January 07, 2014 at 7:25 AM

MUSKEGON, MI – The weather may not be ideal in Muskegon County lately, but it's had it easy compared other parts of the state, thanks to weather systems that tended to travel south of the area, according to meteorologist Evan Webb from the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.

The recent snow storm has caused dangerously cold weather and hazardous driving conditions, which prompted schools and some local businesses and institutions to close, but it had only dropped about six inches of snow in Muskegon in the past 48 hours, according to preliminary totals from the weather service Monday afternoon. Other parts of the state, however, saw far more snow accumulation, according to those figures.

A stretch of just east of Kalamazoo, northeast through the Lansing area and into the Oakland county and Flint area received 15 to 18 inches of snow. Flint alone recorded 17.1 inches the morning of Monday, Jan. 6, making it the third largest snowstorm since records began in 1921.

The preliminary totals for Detroit, Ann Arbor, Bay City, Saginaw, Midland and Grand Rapids were between eight and ten inches, while Jackson received between 12 to 15 inches of snow.

Most of the state's snow accumulation is the result of an area of low pressure that was tracking northeast roughly from Missouri through the north Plains and up to Michigan, but just south of Muskegon, Webb said. Another Arctic low pressure system came down from Canada "right after" the first system, he said, but it didn't bring as much snow.

"The storm that came up from Missouri was more significant," Webb said. Like the first one, though, the Arctic low pressure system tracked south from Muskegon, hitting the lower half of the state harder.

The timing of the two systems are a reason why the lower half of Michigan received significant snowfall, he said, but distance is why Muskegon did not see as much of the white stuff.

"The best snowfall generational areas were kind of in the southern half of lower Michigan, so that's why on a day like (Sunday), Lansing got 9.5 inches of snow and Muskegon has 2.3 inches of snow," Webb said. "As you move north away from the center, you see those storm totals decrease."

The recent snow storm is not the first time Muskegon has been spared by hazardous winter weather this season. A late-December ice storm missed Muskegon County but caused widespread power outages in areas located south of it.

The ice storm took a similar track as the snow storm, Webb said, but other factors worked in Muskegon's favor. The area received less precipitation than other parts of the state overall, he said, but the rain it did get quickly turned into snow, limiting ice accumulation.

Webb said there is no underlying reason for Muskegon's relative good fortune during the two storms.

"It could've been further north but it just went a little further south," he said. "It's just day to day weather."
