A swath of Southeast Michigan was under a winter weather advisory early Thursday, with more snow forecasted this weekend.
The weather forced more than two dozen school districts, including Detroit, and many other charter, private and parochial intuitions to close. And some motorists had to start their mornings by scraping a film of ice from their windshields.
National Weather Service forecasters said that by early morning, many of the main roads seemed to have been salted, although many residential streets — and many parking lots — had not.
The heaviest icing Thursday, the weather service said, was expected near the Ohio border, with up to a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation.
More:9 things you shouldn’t leave in your car during cold, winter weather
Radio news reported spinouts and and offices urged pedestrian caution.
Corewell Health, formerly Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, for instance, set out a sign with a penguin on it in front of one of its buildings. It said “Caution! Ice and snow,” and urged pedestrians to “walk like a penguin.”
The slippery ice is expected to melt away as the temperatures warm up above freezing to about 36 degrees, with wind gusts of about 35 mph, but until then, with all the ice, Thursday could be a bonanza for plaintiff’s attorneys.
More precipitation, about 2-4 inches of snow, is forecasted this weekend, starting Saturday afternoon, possibly falling into early Sunday.
Other school districts in the area that reportedly closed included: Allen Park, Dearborn, Ferndale, Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods, Livonia, Monroe, Northville, Oak Park, Romulus, Southfield, Trenton and Wyandotte.
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A winter weather advisory is issued when there is an 80% chance or better of freezing rain, or snow or blowing snow is coming, or up to a quarter inch of sleet accumulation is expect or of 3 to 5 inches is forecast to fall in 12 hours.
Still, folks weighed in on social media with encouragement and comic relief: “Stay safe,” “Hey, happy weather people day,” “Omg! Get the toilet paper!!!!” “Dang and I’m in Cancun. I’m gonna miss it,” and “It’s all ‘cause the ground hog saw his shadow.”
On Sunday, Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of wintry weather. Closer to home, however, Woody the Woodchuck at the Howell Nature Center predicted an early spring.
Which one is usually right?
Phil’s predictions, records show, are only about 40% correct, worse odds than flipping a coin; and Woody’s accuracy rate is right about 67% of the time, better, but still sometimes wrong. Either way, what we know is that it will be cold for the next few days.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].
