Winter weather advisory issued for Monday; up to 3 inches of snow expected

LANSING - Get ready for a serious shot of winter-like weather.

Temperatures will plunge as snow develops in mid-Michigan this Monday morning, leading to potentially hazardous driving conditions during the morning and evening commutes, the National Weather Service said.

A winter weather advisory will be in effect from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. todayMonday.

One to 3 inches of snow is expected in the Lansing area, with some parts of south-central and southwest lower Michigan seeing up to 5 inches, forecasters said. The Jackson area, for example, will likely get 2 to 4 inches of snow. 

At some point this morning, the roads should become icy as cold air sweeps in and road surfaces cool rapidly, weather service meteorologist Cort Scholten said.

"These roads can ice up very quickly, faster than you would expect," he said. "Bridges and overpasses freeze first. All you can do is slow down when you see snow falling."

The next few days will be very cold, with temperatures staying below the freezing mark from Monday morning through Thursday morning, Scholten said.

Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday should be in the mid-20s, and Lansing's forecast high of 24 degrees on Tuesday would be a new record for the lowest high temperature recorded on that date, he said. Lows will be in the teens on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It should begin to warm up slightly on Thursday, with highs in the low 30s.

It's unusual, but not exactly rare, to get such cold weather at this time of year, Scholten said.

"It's November, and we can get a lot of cold and snow in the second half of the month," he said. "It's just happening earlier than we're used to."

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.