Morning All!  Thought I’d check in with an update as I’ve received a number of emails last night and today from concerned family and friends.

Basically Michigan has so far got off very lightly from this storm, it is affecting us but we’re really on the tail edge of it and as it moves further in land it will weaken anyway.  Currently about 33,000 people are without power around Metro Detroit compared to the almost 8 million on the Eastern side of the States, thankfully we’re not amongst them.  Most of that is caused by trees, or large branches, coming down and snapping power lines.  We had sustained winds of 30 – 35 mph pretty much all night, with gusts reaching 50 mph at time, and many heavy showers.  There was some ice and snow mixed in at times but the ground is too warm for it to stick, there’s an icy rain against the windows at work as I type this.

This radar shot shows the extent of the storm and my location within it.  I’m the black tear drop shape just to the left of the centre!  The photo will enlarge if you click on it.  As you can see we’ve got a bit of weather to contend with!!  The pink is ice, blue is snow and the green is rain, the tiny bit of yellow is torrential rain.

Not much to do but batten down the hatches and ride it out!  They’re already had up to three feet of snow through Virginia, West Virginia and parts of Kentucky.  I’m just so glad Andrew returned from the UK on Saturday, if he’d left it another day or two he wouldn’t have got through.