After a relatively warm winter so far, the new year has brought frigid temperatures and snow to the Clarkston area, and slick roads with it.
“We had crashes scattered all over the township (Monday morning) from about 4:30 a.m. until about 7:30 ? Sashabaw, M-15, Clintonville, Dixie and White Lake,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Dirk Feneley, Independence Township substation commander.
A wreck on I-75 at Holly Road also caused traffic to back up into the township, Feneley said.
“Salt doesn’t work really well when it’s this cold,” he said. “It’s better in the sunshine. When it’s like that, people should take more care and slow down.”
Monday’s low temperatures reached minus 14, with students heading back to school at a blistery seven degrees.
“We just had a low pressure system track through the Great Lakes and cold air came in behind the warm air which caused the icy mix,” said Sara Schultz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake.
Schultz said cold temperatures were expected to continue throughout the week with low temperatures and high wind chills.
‘The biggest concern will be the cold and wind chill,” she said.
By the end of the week, the temperature is expected to increase, but still remain only in the teens.
Winter has been gentle so far compared to the last one, when snowfall records were broken and brutal temperatures were frequent.
Last year in April, after spring began, an additional 2-3 inches of snow broke the 1974-1975 records for the most snowfall.
‘Last year at this time we had a foot of snow,” she said.
This year we face quite the opposite scenario.
Schultz said under an inch fell in December, much lower than normal at the Weather Service location in White Lake for the month.
Winter began on Dec. 21. The first day of spring is March 20.