Students should expect snow, rain mix at start of semester
As the spring semester starts this week, students should prepare to bundle up.
The National Weather Service as of Sunday morning reports a wind chill value as low as negative 3 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday for the Mount Pleasant area. Snow showers should continue into the night before 11 a.m. Tuesday, where rain and snow is expected to mix until 1 p.m., when rain will follow. It should be cloudy with a high of 32 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. There is a chance of rain and snow showers before 1 p.m. Thursday and a chance of snow showers on Friday.
Marty Baxter, a meteorology faculty member in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said there have been notable changes in the weather since December. The temperature in Mount Pleasant was in the single digits late in final exam week, but reached over 50 degrees Fahrenheit on Dec. 27.
Baxter attributed the change in temperatures as a result of strong, low pressure systems moving through — drawing moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. Once they move through, colder and drier air follows. Baxter said the normal high is 29 degrees Fahrenheit, but temperatures have been well below that recently.
“The changes have been quite abrupt, but how high (in temperatures) we get and how low we get, isn’t that unusual compared with other years,” Baxter said.
After Monday night, the National Weather Service expects a snow accumulation of 3 inches. An extra 2 inches is expected for Tuesday.
The accumulated snowfall at CMU reached above 15 inches on Dec. 24 and remained constant through the end of the month. Baxter said the heavy snowfall for December is unusual.
Jared Maples, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids, said storm systems in the area and lake effect snow with colder air led to high snow totals.
Cold air pools north and sinks down into the Great Lakes region, Maples said. Depending on a storm track south of Michigan, we should see more cold air into March.
“Just keep up-to-date with the weather and dress appropriately,” Maples said. “If you get a big storm system moving through and you have really heavy snow, a lot of times it’s best to be prepared and stay put if you can.”
Baxter said students and faculty should expect a “typical Michigan winter” with cold temperatures, high winds and potentially icy roads.
“(Students will) have to take all the normal precautions they would during these months,” he said. “Be careful driving and cover up.”
