Dec. 29, 2025

COTC - 29 Dec 2025 - Bomb Cyclone

COTC - 29 Dec 2025 - Bomb Cyclone
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A major winter storm will continue to impact northern Michigan, bringing dangerous travel conditions to much of the area. Heavy snow and strong winds gusting to 45-55+ mph are expected to create localized blizzard conditions across open areas at times from mid-morning into early afternoon. Drifting snow may make travel especially difficult on secondary roadways. Power outages will also be possible, especially across areas that experienced icing on Sunday. Be sure to use extreme caution if having to travel across northern Michigan today!


Today

Snow showers. The snow could be heavy at times. Widespread blowing snow, mainly before 4pm. Steady temperature around 23. Blustery, with a northwest wind around 25 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of around 6 inches.

Tonight

Snow showers likely, mainly before 1am. Patchy blowing snow before 4am. Cloudy, with a low around 18. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Tuesday

Snow showers, mainly after 4pm. High near 23. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

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Good morning, Northern Michigan.

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And a belated good morning it is.

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Running a little behind this morning.

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So it's a little little later than normal,

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but, hey. I'm here.

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And this is Cup of Traverse City. I'm

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Mike. And, of course, we're gonna talk about

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the weather or,

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the bomb cyclone.

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Yeah. I know there's a definition for that,

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but we've never heard that much on the

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news

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until the last couple of years. I I

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think they just wanna make it sound worse

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than it is. This looks like just a

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typical

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Northern Michigan winter storm.

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But, anyway,

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let's get on with the weather. Of course,

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snow showers today.

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Snow could be heavy at times. Widespread blowing

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snow mainly before 4PM. Steady temperature around 23

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blustery

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with a northwest wind around 25 miles per

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hour and the gust as high as 55

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miles an hour.

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Chance of precipitation

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is a 100%.

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Total daytime accumulation

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around six inches, and that's, I think, specifically

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for Traverse City, probably

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worse or better elsewhere.

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Snow showers likely mainly before 1AM

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tonight. Patchy blowing snow

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before 4AM.

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Cloudy with a low around eighteen. Blustery with

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a northwest wind

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15 to 20 miles an hour with gust

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as high as 70%

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chance of new snow accumulation

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of around an inch. So it looks like

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it'll be over this afternoon, at least the

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bad part of it, but we'll see.

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Tomorrow, snow showers mainly after 4PM, so I

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guess we got another one coming. High near

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23. Northwest wind 10 to 15 miles an

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hour with gust 25.

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I think that's gonna be more

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lake effect. And and, you know, of course,

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if you're in the, lake effect snow belt

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areas,

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expect more. That's usually how that works.

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But, yeah, I I don't know. You know,

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like I said, with

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with these weather terms, I know for a

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while, the weather channel was naming winter storms

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kinda like hurricanes, but there are a lot

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different phenomenon than hurricanes.

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A bomb cyclone. What was the other one?

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Polar vortex.

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That's another term we really didn't hear much

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about, at least in

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the media. I'm sure, you know, meteorologists

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might be using those terms, but,

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yeah, I don't know. Are are we sensationalizing

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click baiting,

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by calling it a bomb cyclone

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instead of just a normal

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winter storm?

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Who knows?

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But,

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interesting anyway.

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You know, yesterday,

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it rained all day.

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Of course, I was down in Grand Haven

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and drove home yesterday. Glad we came home

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yesterday instead of today.

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And, hey, since we're keeping score here,

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let's see. Traverse City, so far this season,

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has had 35 inches of snow. Normal to

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date's 28.5,

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so we're only a 123%

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above normal.

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And

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let's see. Let's pick out another one here.

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Let's see Houghton Lake. Houghton Lake,

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has had 28.5,

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inches so far. Normal to date's 21.7.

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They're a 131%

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over normal.

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And,

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yeah. So

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snowfall is is definitely less than last year

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or at least timed better. So

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I'm not complaining whatsoever.

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I haven't had to plow too much this

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year.

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I did have to shovel my way out

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to the studio this morning,

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and,

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that's been a couple hours since I've been

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out here. And

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there's about an inch and a half fallen

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since then. So, yeah, somebody was saying it

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was an inch an hour. But, anyway, I

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guess we'll we'll talk about the weather all

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day today, and then, tomorrow, I'll come up

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with some, better story to

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add to it rather than the weather. And,

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by the way, I think most of the

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schools around here are closed too, but you

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probably already know that by now. Again, sorry

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for being late, but, just been a crazy

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Monday.

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Catch me tomorrow.