Strong Wind and Lingering Snow in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest

5 Feb 2021, 8:00 am

Strong winds and moderate to heavy snow produced blizzard conditions in portions of the Plains over the past 24 hours. Additional snow is on the way in the Great Lakes, where lake effect snow has enhanced totals. This will be followed by a plunge in temperatures this weekend and next week.

Winter Weather Advisories have been issued from Iowa to Michigan with Winter Storm Warnings in the lake effect snow belts. Additional snow, coupled with gusty winds, will produce blowing snow with poor travel conditions.

So many Tweets from yesterday, we thought it was worth a @TwitterMoments
⚡️ “Iowa Blizzard – Thursday, February 4, 2021”https://t.co/SPTt7OwYSe #iawx

— NWS Des Moines (@NWSDesMoines) February 5, 2021

Forecast

The low pressure center is weakening as its moved north of the Great Lakes into Canada. Wrap around snow and gusty winds will continue throughout the Great Lakes today (Friday), with snow showers ahead of the front into the Northeast.

Snow totals will be lighter across the Plains into Nebraska, where 1-3 inches are expected. A few heavier lake effect snow bands, up to 5″ inches, is in the forecast for the snow belts of Michigan. As mentioned previously, strong winds are expected in many areas could lead to low visibility and difficult travel.

This article will be updated as necessary through the event. Check back with us here online, our social media channels, and on-air for the latest information.

About the author

Alana Cameron

Alana Cameron was born and raised in Canada in the city of Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. Alana is the oldest of 4 siblings, all close in age, and grew up playing outside with them in all types of weather. After graduating high school, Alana moved to study at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna for a year before transferring to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where sh... Load Moree completed a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Atmospheric Science. Upon completion, Alana moved back to Toronto where she completed a post-grad degree in Meteorology at York University. After her post-grad, she went on to complete another post-grad in Broadcast Journalism - TV News at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. During her final year of studies she had the privilege of interning with the best in the business in Canada at The Weather Network. Once she finished her internship, she got the call from small-town Denison, Texas where she accepted a job as an on-air meteorologist at KTEN-TV, right in tornado alley, covering severe weather from Sherman/Denison (North Texas) to Ada (Southern Oklahoma). After the most active tornado season Oklahoma had seen in May 2019 (105 tornadoes!) Alana is excited to join WeatherNation to cover weather all across the nation. If you're interested in following her on social media she can be found @alanacameronwx!