11.9% of the Lower 48 states woke up to snow on the ground Thursday AM. That compares to just 0.7% on Oct. 14th, 2020. The snow was mainly in the Rockies and in western South Dakota, where up to 27″ fell. The pic. above is from the Black Hills National Forest (by Patti Lynch).
This is from the Mt. Rainier Recreational Forecast (Washington State): “Stormy weather will create difficult mountaineering conditions near the summit, with local blizzard-like conditions, strong winds, and near zero visibility.”
Here’s Northern Hemisphere snow and ice cover. Look at the snow cover in Siberia. There is a loose correlation between early snow buildup in Siberia and cold/snow in the Great Lakes. Snow has already started accumulating in N. Canada. We’re still (probably) several weeks ahead of the first ice starting to form in Hudson Bay.
- Here’s Lower Michigan radar
In the meantime, we’ll have a chance of showers today (Fri.) with the best chance of rain to the south and east of Grand Rapids. Saturday will be a cool day with a chance of showers (lake-effect or lake-enhanced rain). Saturday we may be stuck in the low-mid 50s much of the day. Then we’ll be partly to mostly sunny for Sunday and Monday.
