Many school districts have closed Thursday, Jan. 23, as snowfall continues - particularly along the lakeshore - in a weeklong winter storm.

“In cold temperatures like this, when the firefighters stop, and they have sweat underneath. Once they lose the protection of that vapor barrier, they never get it back,” a Fire Lieutenant with The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said.

Lake-effect snow causes multiple crashes and road closures in West Michigan, including a jackknifed semi on I-196.

A chain reaction crash developed Tuesday morning in white-out conditions along Interstate 94 in West Michigan.

Just as this bitterly cold airmass starts to move out of Michigan on Wednesday, snowfall is expected to re-intensify across part of Michigan. This could lead to as much as 6 inches of new snow across some areas that already have been hard-hit by lake-effect snow in the last couple of weeks, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Impressive amounts of snow have fallen since Sunday leaving portions of West Michigan under over a foot of snowfall.

Snow will continue into the overnight hours before winds bring in more lake-effect snow Thursday morning on a northwesterly wind.

Families in need of food assistance in Iron River and Newberry can get help Thursday through Feeding America West Michigan and its mobile food pantry. The first food distribution event is at Grace Covenant Church,

Frigid air will gradually move out of Michigan this weekend. Temperatures will climb to the 20s this weekend and next week for more residents.

The coldest air in six years blasts into Michigan to start the week, with highs in the single digits, wind chills ten to twenty-five below zero, heavy lake effect snow

With widespread school closings in West Michigan this week, some districts have now seen a half dozen or more snow days this school year.

“In cold temperatures like this, when the firefighters stop and they have sweat underneath, once they lose the protection of that vapor barrier --they never get it back,” Fire Lieutenant Jason Hendrick with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said.