Winter storm blows into West Michigan
Very windy and scattered snow showers for Friday
Updated: Friday, 21 Dec 2012, 5:21 PM EST
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Winter 2012 officially began Friday and the first real storm has arrived in West Michigan, bringing scattered snow showers and very gusty winds, already hitting 60 and 70 mph on the lakeshore.
Much of the area received a half inch to an inch of rain on Thursday. If that was snow, it could have resulted in 6 to 10 inches!
Now that rain has transitioned over to snow, with it accumulating in many communities. About 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected to fall on Friday.
Roads could get icy throughout the day.
Winds will sustain around 20 to 30 mph, with heavy gusts, including 60 in Holland and 70 in South Haven, which occurred Friday morning.
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Power outages
These Consumers Energy customers in West Michigan are without service as of 4 p.m. Friday --
- Allegan County -- 5685
- Kalamazoo County -- 285
- Oceana County -- 1818
- Ottawa County -- 4587
- Van Buren County -- 2178
A majority of customers should have their power restored by late Friday. Customers in the hardest hit counties may not receive electric service until later Saturday.
About 120 Midwest Energy Cooperative customers are without service, as of 4 p.m. Friday. Areas most impacted include Marcellus, Edwardsburg, Dowagiac, Cassopolis and Lawton. No restoration estimation is available at this time.
Of the 50,000 Great Lakes Energy customers without electricity from the storm, 27,000 have had their power restored. But company officials do not expect to restore everyone's power until at least Saturday. Outages are reported in numerous counties, including Mecosta, Newaygo and Oceana counties, northward.
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Heavy snow is falling in parts of northern Michigan, with forecasts calling for up to 14 inches. The National Weather Service says snowfall began to build Thursday morning in the northern Lower Peninsula. Heavy snow was falling near Gaylord in Otsego County, with 5.3 inches on the ground as of Thursday afternoon. Missaukee County reported 5 inches and Kalkaska County has 4.5 inches.
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Stay with Storm Team 8 and 24 Hour News 8 for the latest information.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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