Severely cold temperatures set in Friday across Southwest Michigan, bringing more school, government and business closures to a week already filled with snow-related complications.
Most Southwest Michigan school districts were closed Friday, and higher education institutions like Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College have closed their campuses due to severe weather. Many of the same schools, including WMU, were also closed Tuesday and Thursday.
An alert from the NWS forecasts continued lake effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes through Friday, along with "dangerously cold arctic air" causing extreme wind chill across the country. Extreme cold warnings are in effect through Saturday, Jan. 24 for much of the region.
According to the National Weather Service, a winter weather advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday for Muskegon, Ottawa, Kent, Allegan, Barry, Van Buren and Kalamazoo Counties. The NWS 10-day forecast for Kalamazoo county predicts snow is likely to continue into next week.
Dangerous conditions like bitter wind chill, freezing rain and extreme low temperatures are expected through the weekend as a cold front moves across the United States.
In Kalamazoo County, several winter warming centers are available during the day and overnight. A list of all centers is available on the Kalamazoo County website.
Battle Creek has shared information on its local warming centers and keeping water pipes working during extreme cold.
Kalamazoo Metro will offer free transport to warming shelters through Saturday evening. There are details at Kalamazoo County's severe winter weather information page.
Metro has an alert on its website about interruptions to routes, though it says most buses are running normally.
