Bittersweet Ski Area Snow Report

099 FXUS63 KGRR 230631 AFDGRR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 231 AM EDT Wed Sep 23 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Mainly dry with moderating temperatures through Monday - Next chance of rain comes in late next Tuesday && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 231 AM EDT Wed Sep 23 2026 - Mainly dry with moderating temperatures through Monday Nothing much has changed regarding the upcoming extended dry and mild period expected for the area through early next week. We do have one more weak wave rotating around the upper low to our south today that we have to contend with. The biggest impact with this will be a shroud of lower clouds that rotates through the southern portion of the area. Maybe a sprinkle comes out of it, but these clouds will not have much depth to them with a fairly strong subsidence inversion building in ahead of the incoming ridge. The dry low level flow from the NE will not help in allowing rain to reach the sfc. We see the ridge then move in on Thursday as the upper low moves far enough away. This transition, especially the upper low moving offshore and amplifying, will help to slow the progression of features across the entire continent. We will see the ridge control our area from Thursday, right on through early Tuesday. A trough does try to approach Sunday. It will be sheared out as it encounters the strong ridge and dry weather. Temperatures will slowly moderate through the period from the 60s today, to 70s over the weekend and early next week. This is supported as 850 mb temperatures increase from around +6C today, to +12 to 13C over the weekend and early next week. - Next chance of rain comes in late next Tuesday We will eventually see a stronger jet streak and long wave upper trough push east across the country early next week. Indications and mean timing has rain chances coming in later next Tuesday at this time. Would not be surprised to see this delayed a bit given the strong ridging and very dry air in place that will resist the trough a bit. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 133 AM EDT Wed Sep 23 2026 We are starting off this forecast period with a broken stratocumulus deck at around 3500-4000 ft along the I-94 terminals, while the I-96 corridor has only sct-bkn 20k ft clouds. This should hold stable most of the night without much change. We will see them advance a little north during the daylight hours, bringing the bkn040 deck into KGRR and KLAN. We are likely to see some MVFR conditions along the I-94 corridor with ceilings expected to drop to around 2500 ft for a few hours. Winds will become gusty a bit one last day to around 20-25 knots. These lower clouds should all rotate out of the area by 00z Thu, and we could even see skies go mostly clear at all of the terminals. The ENE winds will hold up again one last night around 5-10 knots. && .MARINE... Issued at 231 AM EDT Wed Sep 23 2026 One more day of offshore winds that will approach Small Craft Advisory criteria. As has been the case the last few days of this pattern, the offshore component will be the main factor to limit criteria from being met. We will see winds taper off then Thursday and even more Friday as high pressure settles right over the area through the weekend. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...None. MARINE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...NJJ AVIATION...NJJ MARINE...NJJ