GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — 'Twas a week before Christmas and all through West Michigan, the people were stirring as the holiday drew near. The forecast they watched each evening with care, in hopes that some snowfall soon would be there.
If this were a fable, you'd know what comes next: a Christmas miracle and snow you'd expect.
Sadly, this is reality and I must say with a sigh, a green Christmas is most likely, not snow from the sky.
I'm all out of rhymes, typing this far was a chore. Now to the forecast of what lies in store!
A Green Christmas:
As my poem has given away, the forecast heading toward Christmas is looking more green than white in West Michigan. However, there is still a small chance for some snow between now and Christmas day, but those chances are not looking great.
Our chance will come late Christmas Eve into Christmas morning, as a system will be passing through our region. Right now, we are forecasting a mix of rain and snow to be possible, but this coverage is scattered and only at 40%.
The European model, which is generally more reliable, has most all of West Michigan in the rainy portion of the system. You can see an early example of the hour-by-hour below.
The American model moves this system further to the south, with a rain/snow line setting up into West Michigan. You can see this below.
If the system takes a lower track and colder air moves further south, seeing some snowfall later this week is not impossible. However, both models agree that after the system moves by Christmas day, temperatures will likely be well above freezing, with our current forecast high at 42 for Christmas afternoon.
With this in mind, our current forecast for a white Christmas is not looking good. Given a scale of 1 to 10, I'd currently rate us around a 2.
So, there's still a chance, but it's certainly not a guaranteed white Christmas.
Make sure you stick with 13 On Your Side as we get closer to Christmas to see if anything changes. We will make sure to let you know if it does!
-- Meteorologist Michael Behrens
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Email me at: MBehrens@13OnYourSide.com
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