KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Winter weather advisories are in effect in Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo counties and Weather Warnings are in effect along the lakeshore as the Lake Effect Machine is turned to 9.
Roads are snow packed and slippery so build more time into your travel plans if you must go out today. Three to six inches could fall before this latest snow event is over.
Health officials are warning anyone who is headed out this New Year’s Eve to forget about fashion and focus on not freezing or contracting frostbite, especially if doing anything outdoors is included.
Temperatures could be below zero if the forecasters are right, and if there is a breeze, there will be an even lower wind chill.
Deb Droppers at New Year’s Fest says the show will go on. When you do an event in the middle of Winter, you are prepared for winter weather, and she says they have seen every kind imaginable in their 39-year history.
For the first time they plan to compress the fireworks show at midnight this year from 20 to 10 minutes, and make other modifications to the evening long Arts Fest to limit exposure.
It begins with Tuba New Years, this time in a tent in Bronson Park at
You will be able to welcome in the New Year twice if you attend the New Year’s Eve skate at Millennium Park in Portage.
They plan to have special lighting, a Deejay and a countdown at 7pm to welcome in the New Year at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The event will wrap up at 9 pm leaving skaters free to celebrate the local arrival of New Year anywhere they want.
Kalamazoo’s New Year’s Fest will be topped off again by the Ball Drop in front of city hall.That event will have some competitors this year in West Michigan.
At Allegan’s Zip line, General Manager Byron Bell is boasting the state’s largest ball, a 10-foot six inch all digital display that is six inches larger than the ball in Midland. They are calling it a child friendly family event but the weather may play a factor.
In Traverse City it’s not size that counts…it’s the shape of the ball that takes on special significance, Trevor Tkach, the CEO of Traverse City Tourism, lowering a large lighted Cherry has become a tradition in that community.
