December 20, 2012: The Big Storm Has Arrived!
The main question now is: When will it leave and how much will fall? The major winter storm is moving quite slowly. Late this afternoon, the low was near Chicago (Image 1 above). Just after midnight, the system is forecast to only drift northeast to about Grand Rapids (Image 2). Afterwards, the low will begin to weaken which means the snow area will shrink and diminish.
The slow movement means winter storm conditions continuing through the night. In fact, conditions will probably be rough near Lake Superior tomorrow morning. You’ll notice the snow is wet and heavy. That’s because temperatures are mild for a mid-to-late December storm. If readings were only a few degrees colder, this would be a storm for the ages in the north-wind snow belts of Lake Superior. Regardless, this is still a major, widespread storm which will only slowly lose its grip on the U.P.
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