The storm systems are coming frequently now and for the next week. Let’s take each storm system one at a time. The next storm is an Alberta Clipper system that will give all of Michigan accumulations, but it will be heavier over the western third of Lower Michigan. The snow from this next system starts tonight.
Here’s the radar forecast from 9 p.m. tonight to 7 a.m. Saturday.
Radar forecast from 9 p.m. tonight, January 15 to 7 a.m. Saturday, January 17.NOAA
Let me show you the radar forecast for noon Friday. This says all of Lower Michigan will have widespread light snow. The darker blue along the Lake Michigan shoreline signifies moderate-to-heavy lake-effect snow.
Radar forecast at noon Friday, January 16, 2026NOAA
By noon Friday we should have an inch or two of snow on all Michigan roads. It’s not a whopper snowstorm for Grand Rapids eastward into Lansing, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Bay City and the eastern part of Lower Michigan. I’d call it two to three inches of snow for most of us. Roads will be cold. Definitely expect slick roads developing during Friday.
For the western third of Lower Michigan it’s a somewhat different story, with a combination of the Alberta Clipper’s two to three inches of snow and the lake-effect snow of three to six inches of snow.
It will be very snowy and treacherous Friday, Friday night and Saturday morning over western lower Michigan.
Here is the total snowfall expected by sunrise Saturday. Based on snow amounts, it’s not a big snowstorm from east of Grand Rapids into the east side of the state. The cold will make the roads very slick.
Grand Rapids will be the dividing line on the Friday snow. West of Grand Rapids will have three to eight inches of snow. East of Grand Rapids will have two or three inches of snow.
Total snowfall forecast from the model that should do the best in this situation.NOAA
The snow forecast below is produced by the human meteorologists at the National Weather Service. They have a good idea on upping the amounts along the Lake Michigan shoreline counties.
Total snowfall forecast through midday Saturday from all of the National Weather Service offices.NOAA
The easy summary is roads will be slick everywhere by midday Friday. There will be a lot of snow falling for the counties that border Lake Michigan from South Haven northward to Petoskey. The rest of Lower Michigan will have steady, light snow.
Winds won’t be extremely strong, but in the steady 10 mph to 20 mph range Friday. With the light, fluffy nature of the snow, there will be some blowing and drifting.
I hope you get the picture that it will be a slow drive anywhere on Friday.
I’ll work on the weekend weather scene for you now, so check MLive.com/weather in a few hours for the weekend situation. Also get ready for a true Arctic blast of air early next week, along with more heavy lake-effect snow.
Here’s my broadcast from this morning, showing what we have coming over the next week. This will give you a longer look at what’s coming in weather.
