634
FXUS63 KGRR 282000
AFDGRR
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI
300 PM EST Wed Jan 28 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Lake effect snow continues through Thursday
- Cold temperatures Thursday night
- Warming trend late weekend
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 300 PM EST Wed Jan 28 2026
- Lake effect snow continues through Thursday
Water vapor imagery shows another short wave moving south over
Wisconsin and will move across the lake later this afternoon.
We`ll see an uptick in snow showers, especially near the lake
shore. Earlier, we extended the winter weather advisory through
Thursday morning and extended it north to include the entire lake
shore counties.
Bufkit omega profiles show an omega bullseye at South Haven this
evening, corresponding to the lift created by the short wave. More
lift was noted through 12z. Instability remains very favorable for
lake effect snow production with h8 temps around -20c through
Thursday.
One final short wave will move south early Friday and once it
does so, boundary layer winds will become northeasterly
effectively pushing the lake snow bands southwest across the lake
toward Wisconsin and Illinois. We will see some synoptic snow,
however, as the short wave passes through on Friday, but
accumulations will be limited to an inch or less.
- Cold temperatures Thursday night
RH progs show clearing skies developing over northeast Lower and
moving south across the northeast cwa Thursday night. Apparent
temperatures will bottom out in the 15 to 20 below range and we`ll
likely need a cold weather advisory north of I-96. Apparent
temperatures south of I-96 are expected to fall to -5 to -10.
- Warming trend late weekend
Saturday and Sunday will be mostly dry as high pressure builds
southeast from the northern Plains. H8 temps near -12c Saturday
warm to -6c by Monday. Correspondingly, highs in the mid teens
Friday and Saturday will warm into the mid 20s Sunday and remain
there through Wednesday. Low temperatures Sunday night through
Tuesday night will remain above zero.
&&
.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 1250 PM EST Wed Jan 28 2026
Surface troughing over the Great Lakes, coupled with 850 mb temps
around -20C, continues to generate lake effect snow in the
normally favored WNW flow areas. Winds will turn slightly more NW
tonight as final embedded surface trough rotates east.
MVFR ceilings/vsbys will be most common within the LES,
especially at MKG/AZO/GRR, with only brief periods of greater
restrictions. Surface pressure gradient weakens late tonight, and
this will likely permit clouds to scatter out over inland areas
by early Thursday, including at LAN/BTL/JXN.
&&
.GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MI...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM EST Thursday for MIZ037-043-
050-056-064-071-072.
MARINE...None.
&&
$$
DISCUSSION...04
AVIATION...Smith
NWS GRR Office Area Forecast Discussion
