A major winter storm is expected to impact the southwest Michigan region during the middle of the week, including the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo areas.

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UPDATE Mon 1/31/2022 4:00pm: The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties. A Winter Storm Watch is issued for Allegan, Barry, and Eaton Counties. The alerts go into effect late Tuesday evening and remains in effect through Thursday evening.

Rain showers and warmer temperatures in the lower 40s are expected on Tuesday, but conditions will change into the evening as temps fall and rain turns to snow. Late Tuesday night, heavy snow showers are forecast to begin and are expected to leave 1" to 3" of accumulations by Wednesday morning.

During the morning, afternoon, and evening on Wednesday, heavy snow is expected to continue with an additional 4" to 8" of snow by Thursday morning. During the day Thursday, several more inches of snow, 3" to 5" could fall before the storm winds down Thursday evening. Altogether, storm totals of up to 12" of snow are possible and some isolated areas could see higher amounts. Some models are indicating snowfall up to 16” in these counties as of Monday afternoon.

Travel could be very difficult to impossible at times during this storm, according to the National Weather Service. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commutes on Wednesday and Thursday.

We will keep an eye on forecasts as the storm approaches and provide updates when they are made available.

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