Extreme Winter Weather Will Hit Michigan Christmas Weekend

How bad will the Winter weather be in Michigan compared to the rest of the country?

This is a very cold good news/bad news situation. The good news, it's very likely that we'll have a white Christmas. The bad news? Many areas of the U.S. could experience the coldest Christmas in several decades.

In fact, there doesn't appear to be a single part of the continental United States that will not be affected by this storm in some way.

This Winter storm is bringing us two extremes depending on what part of the country you're in. Extreme cold and extreme snowfall. Unfortunately for Southwest Michigan, we are expected to get both.

Extreme Snow in the Midwest

An Accuweather map that was updated at 5:22 a.m. on Tuesday morning forecasts heavy snowfall for the Great Lakes. More specifically, an area stretching from Chicago to Kalamazoo could get up to three feet of snow between Wednesday evening through Saturday. Blizzard conditions are also expected Thursday and Friday for much of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and all of Michigan.

This will have a massive effect on Holiday travel. Some airlines have already begun offering flight vouchers as they are canceling flights in anticipation of this storm. Expect major cancellations for flights flying out of and into Chicago's O'hare and Midway airports. If you are flying anytime between this Wednesday and Sunday, pay careful attention to your airline's app or website as you get closer to your scheduled flight.

Extreme Cold Temps

Nearly 80% of the continental United States will be below freezing over Christmas weekend according to CNN,

Places as far south as Houston; Austin, Texas; Atlanta and even Orlando are currently included on that list. And some in the Midwest could also experience their coldest Christmas Day in nearly 40 years.

You'll notice on the weather map below that the most frigid temps are just west of Lake Michigan.  The warmer air coming off of Lake Michigan helps prevent Michigan from dipping to 30 below zero like Montana and Nebraska. However, that same warm air from the lake will create lots and lots of lake-effect snow when it meets a cold front. The frigid temps will be felt as far South as Texas and Florida. Parts of Texas could experience wind chills as cold as 15 below zero.

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Here's a fun weather fact. When the temp drops below 45 degrees in Florida, people have to watch for falling iguanas. When it gets cold, they pass out and fall out of trees.  It's expected to be in the 20s in Northern Florida and in the 40s as far South as Miami.

Southwest Michigan's forecasted three feet of snow is expected to be accompanied by highs around 16 and lows around 5 for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Merry Christmas.