GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Snow fell in intervals in lakeshore communities Thursday night. Although driving conditions have improved from the night before, some side roads and parking lots remained snowy and slick.

Snow didn’t stop anyone from enjoying some downtown nightlife in Grand Haven. Many people were seen cleaning off their snow-covered cars after leaving the shops and restaurants. Jennifer Texer said she drives frequently for her job and said the roads yesterday were brutal. 

“If you live on the lakeshore you kind of get used to this, it comes out of nowhere,” said Texer. “Yesterday, the wind gusts, and especially last night, I mean we had, what, 15 mph winds gusts here and on the road your car is getting blown all over the place so again if you don’t need to be on the roads stay home. If you’re on the road take your time and know your vehicle.”

Poor road conditions led to a number of crashes and highway closures earlier Thursday, causing at least one West Michigan sheriff’s department to tell people to avoid driving.

The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office advised people to stay off the roads. It said it had seen several crashes and slide-offs, including some involving and semi-trucks, overnight and that the situation was worse on the west side of the county. It warned of blowing snow caused by high winds, as well as downed trees and power lines.

Two semi-trucks rolled over on eastbound I-94 near the Sprinkle Road exit Thursday morning, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said. That shut down the eastbound lanes, but there were no injuries reported, police said.

Such highway closures were intermittent all morning because of crashes. South of Grand Rapids, northbound US-131 was shut down at 100th Street for about 2.5 hours due to a multivehicle crash. The Kent County Sheriff’s Office said that a little after 4 a.m., a semi-truck jackknifed and hit other cars. The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately release information about whether anyone was hurt. The highway reopened around 6:40 a.m.

Earlier Thursday morning, Eastbound I-96 was closed and later one lane only at M-66 near Portland, the Michigan Department of Transportation said. Eastbound I-96 was closed after M-6, southbound I-96 was closed after 109th Avenue in Allegan County and westbound I-94 was shut down at M-37 near Climax, MDOT said. All those later reopened.

The city of Kalamazoo said Thursday afternoon that it was “making headway” on clearing streets with at least 10 trucks plowing around the clock and continuous street clearing.

On Thursday morning, the city of South Haven said its crews were working to clear downed trees and other debris from roads and restore power outages affecting as many as 300 people. It said its work was being hampered by wind gusts of 50 mph to 75 mph.

“Our crews worked late into the night to evaluate outages and address hazards where conditions allowed,” South Haven Department of Public Works Director Dana Burd said in a statement. “Efforts will continue throughout the day as we work to restore services and clear debris while prioritizing safety.”

On Wednesday night, a stretch of 120th Avenue in Holland Township was shut down after it iced over and led to about 40 minor crashes and slide-offs, Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Kempker said.

If you must head out, remember your winter driving safety practices: Slow down, leave plenty of space between you and other vehicles and remove any distractions.

In addition to strong winds causing intermittent whiteout conditions, part of the problem was how cold it was. With temperatures below 20 degrees, road salt was less effective. The Kent County Road Commission said that it was using a sand-salt mixture to provide traction. It expected the salt to start working better as the day wore on and it got a little warmer.

Kent County said the main problem it was seeing was a thin layer of ice on the roads. Overnight crews started on state roads and were able to expand to primary county roads and then local roads early Thursday morning. They’re paying special attention to laying down sand-salt on hills, curves and intersections.

“While crews may not reach every neighborhood, we will prioritize the intersections where neighborhoods meet main roads,” the road commission said.

The poor weather and road conditions led dozens of West Michigan school districts, including Grand Rapids Public Schools, to cancel classes for Thursday. Some city and county governments closed their offices or courthouses, though emergency services of course remained on duty.