Winter weather advisory in effect for western UP

By ZACHARY MARANO

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MARQUETTE — A winter weather advisory will be in effect until 6 a.m. CST Wednesday for Ironwood, Watersmeet and surrounding areas, according to the National Weather Service in Marquette.

Matt Zika, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said there will be 12-18 inches of snow over a 48-hour period starting on Monday before tapering off Wednesday morning.

“When you first look at the snow totals, they look pretty impressive,” Zika said. “But they take place over a long duration of 48 hours and will not be overly intense in any one time period. It’s not a ‘monster snowstorm’ by any stretch.”

Given the unusually long duration, this snowfall does not meet the threshold for a typical winter storm, Zika said. He said that the most snow will arrive on the higher terrain in the Gogebic Range and the Porcupine Mountains.

Zika said there will be a moderate amount of snow in the afternoon and early evening today. Along with the snowfall on Monday afternoon and evening, these will be the most intense periods of snowfall in the two-day period. The weather will clear up for the weekend and stay decent into March, he said.

However, Zika said the snow will bring slightly colder temperatures than normal for this time of year. The high temperatures will be around 12 degrees today with northeast winds of 15-20 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Windchill readings are forecasted to be 15 below zero.

In the evening, the low temperatures will be around one degree below zero with north winds around 10-15 mph inland, with windchill readings again forecasted to be 15 below zero.