Our ground is going from brown to white Wednesday night and Thursday. Here’s a good look at what you can expect.

The storm system is coming from the southwest, with lots of moisture and cold enough air for all snow.

That will be the biggest difference from the last four storm systems. All of the other storm systems in the past two months had some mix of rain, sleet or freezing rain with the snow.

This weather-maker should be all snow, with maybe a small area of a little sleet in the far southeast corner south of Detroit.

The snow will start along the southern border Wednesday night and creep northward Thursday morning. Here’s a look at the radar forecast from Wednesday evening to Friday

Radar forecast from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday. (North American Model - Weather Research and Forecasting)

Most of the other models are similar with the timing and placement of the heaviest snow. All of the models show some scattering out of the snow during the day Thursday. A steady snow Wednesday night and Thursday morning will probably become off and on Thursday afternoon and evening.

Another difference from recent storms is the temperature will be cold enough for the snow to stick on roadways.

Here are the high temperatures forecast for Thursday.

High temperature forecast for Thursday, February 6, 2020.

It will be just cold enough for snow to easily stick on roadways. It will also be warm enough that salt will work wonders on roadways. It will take the off and on snow period of Thursday afternoon before salt can overtake the snowfall rate.

Here are a few snapshots of when the snow will be in Lower Michigan.

Radar forecast 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Snows starts in far southern Michigan Wednesday evening. There will be dry air in place as you go north. So it will take until Thursday morning for the snow to move as far north as it’s going to make it.

Radar forecast 7 a.m. Thursday, Feburary 6, 2020

I’d use a Pentwater to Mount Pleasant to Standish line as the northern edge of any meaningful snow.

Radar forecast 7 p.m. Thursday, February 6, 2020

By Thursday evening, this North American Model has the snow tapering off. That’s where a difference in modeling comes in. The European Model brings a renewed surge of snow into the Detroit area Thursday night and Friday morning. The Euro is usually pretty accurate with this situation, but can also make snow hang on about six hours too long.

Radar forecast 7 a.m. Friday, February 7, 2020

The image above shows that surge of snow in far southeast Lower Thursday night and Friday morning.

Again I like to go back to what is called situational forecasting. A storm like this from the southwest, lasting 24 hours with occasional breaks in the snow is a three to six inch snowstorm. The weather models seem to align with that thought also.

Here’s what the European Model says. Remember, it brings a second period of snow into the Detroit area Thursday night and Friday morning.

Total snow forecast through Friday from the European Model.

The Euro shows it as a three to six inch snow.

The North American Model(NAM) is similar. The difference is it doesn’t call for the second surge of snow because that is farther out in time than the model forecasts. The NAM only forecasts out 60 hours.

Total snow forecast from the North American Model (NAM)

But it is also showing a three to five inch snow in the very same spot. Again the exception is the six inch forecast in far southeast Lower.

So it’s a solid snow coming from a direction we always have to watch- the southwest. The snow starts Wednesday night. Roads will be snowy and treacherous all of Thursday, and probably Thursday night and Friday morning. The colder temperatures mean salt will have to be used to really improve the roads.