The wet weekend on the way could be a portend of things to come. The Lakes are warm, and the lake effect snow machine loves it!

Some of the heavy rains we could experience over the next few days are the result of storm system pushing over the warm Great Lakes, increasing the rainfall. So what does that say for the rest of this winter?

Sit back, folks, this isn't going to be pretty. Or is it?

Several forecasters have expressed concern over Lake temperatures that have shot up late in the summer season.

"You get a greater temperature difference between the lake water and the air above it, in general, you would expect heavier lake-effect precipitation," said Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist with The Weather Channel and weather.com told the Detroit Free Press this week. "The trick is, is the air above the lakes cold enough to support snow?"

In other words, says Erdman, the lakes are ready to supply a boatload of lake effect snow, but it will take a steady supply of cold, northerly winds to fuel it.

weather.com
weather.com
loading...

The same scenario was in place at this time last season, causing the same concern. However, those threats were gunned down by warmer winds aloft that kept us relatively snow free here in Grand Rapids.

The Weather Channel seems to think a repeat of the late fall/early winter of 2014 is in play, which gave us huge totals in November and December, and very little the rest of the winter. They also say the 'witches of November' or big gale winds are possible.

So keep your snow blower tuned up, and your boots on standby, we could be in for a doozy.

More From Magic 104.9