As all of Michigan hurtles toward a multi-day stretch of a deep winter freeze, the National Weather Service has expanded the Extreme Cold Warning area across most of the state.
The only places not under an Extreme Cold Warning are the Southeast corner of the state – from Saginaw and The Thumb down to Flint, Ann Arbor and Detroit, as well as the Lansing and Jackson area along the southern rim of Michigan. Those southern and eastern spots are under a Cold Weather Advisory, as the cold is not expected to be quite as severe there.
The Extreme Cold Warning now covers the Upper Peninsula – where wind chills could plummet to -45 degrees over the next couple of days – and all of Northern Michigan and West Michigan. This extreme warning covers Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Traverse City, Gaylord and the Tip of the Mitt, too.
Up North areas like Traverse City, Petoskey and Gaylord are also under a Winter Storm Warning.
The Extreme Cold Warnings run through Saturday morning.
“Coldest wind chills are expected late tonight into Friday morning, and again late Friday night into Saturday morning,” the NWS said. “The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 30 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.”
Symptoms of Hypothermia and Frostbite
These Extreme Cold Warnings are a relatively new kind of warning system from the National Weather Service, as our Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa explained earlier.
They used to use this kind of warning for bitterly cold wind chills only, but now it can be used for specific cold temperature zones, even if there is no wind.
Temperatures across all of Michigan are expected to be below zero on Friday and Saturday mornings – the coldest time windows in the forecast.
Wind chills in Lower Michigan could drop to -25 degrees, with much colder “feels like” temperatures expected in the U.P.
