Winter weather advisory to expire at midnight after spring storm covers region in snow

A spring storm dumped up to six inches of snow on parts of Metro Detroit Friday, creating a dicey morning commute for many and contributing to multiple crashes.

A winter weather advisory runs through midnight Saturday for Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Shiawassee counties.

A band of "moderate to heavy snow," meanwhile, was expected to continue to fall until 8 p.m. in the Thumb, between I-69 and M-46, according to the National Weather Service. Snowfall were expected to approach an inch per hour, adding up to three more inches of snow to the area.

Closer to Metro Detroit, the greatest amount of snowfall fell along or north of M-59.

By 7 a.m., numerous crashes were reported on Metro Detroit freeways and roadways. Officials with the Michigan Department of Transportation said crashes happened on westbound I-94 at Harper in Clinton Township, the northbound Southfield Freeway at Seven Mile in Detroit, and the southbound Lodge Freeway after Seven Mile.

The wintry weather prompted some school districts to cancel classes for the day. Oxford Community Schools is among them. Officials said in an alert on X to parents and students that school is closed Friday. "The notice is later than usual due to changing weather forecasts in our area," the district said.

On Thursday, National Weather Service meteorologist Trent Frey said a low-pressure system forming in the Midwest was expected to "bring this plume of snow across the Great Lakes region," but would be moving out by late Friday.

"Starting at 6 a.m., we'll see the lead edge of the snow work in; there could be a lull during the mid-day period, but then we expect another round of precipitation to move in during the evening into the late evening hours before the snow tapers off," said Frey, who is based in the agency's White Lake Township office.

Southern parts of Metro Detroit could see 1-2 inches, whereas northern areas could see 2-3 inches, said Frey, who added that snow this time of year is not unusual during the transition period from winter into the spring months.

"Most Marches, we do see a bit of snow," he said. "So far this month, we've only seen .4 inches of snow; normally up to this point, we see about 5 inches."

Temperatures on Friday through Sunday are expected to top out near 39 degrees in Metro Detroit, the weather service said. Temperatures were predicted to climb Monday with highs in the mid-upper 50s, Frey added.

Average readings around this time of year are highs around 48 and lows near 30, he said.