Surface streets were slippery Tuesday morning, with some areas iced over as metro Detroit sank into its first real winter weather day of the season. South 23 at M-59 was shut down as was southbound M-5 at 13 Mile, and Ann Arbor Road over I-275.
Three semi-trucks were jack-knifed on separate freeways -- at M-14 and Beck, on Ann Arbor road, and on westbound 96 and Milford road.
There was no snow accumulation, but a wintry mix of rain and a tiny amount of snow and ice caused problems all over local roadways, WWJ 950 reported.
"It just depends on where you're at," WWJ's Mike Campbell reported live during traffic and weather on the 8s. "Grand RIver is just wet at this point, but US-23 south at M-59, that was icy earlier and there was a multiple car crash on the south end of the bridge over M-59. You know, bridges freeze faster than the roads the signs say. That appears to be the cause here.
"One of the cars was squished into those cable guard rails on the median so it might be taking a little longer to peel it out of there. There's wreckers on the scene, but 23 south is being forced off at M-59. so the back-up is for a ways. Also be aware, the surface streets are also slippery. I came down old US-23, from there to 96, from 23 and M-59 to 23 and 96 and it's slippery to the spots, it's iced over. So you've got to be careful out there."
Overall, as of 8 a.m. US-23 south traffic was being forced off at M-59. Ann Arbor Road over I-275 in Plymouth Road was closed after a semi jack-knifed. Westbound M-14 at Beck had a crash, and westbound 94 at Milford had another jack-knifed semi-truck. Both directions of M-5 in the Novi area were affected by a crash as was I-96. See a real-time traffic map HERE and tune into WWJ 950 for weather and traffic on the 8s.
So, what to expect for the rest of the day? More of the same. Winds gusted 20-25 miles per hour with flurries and temperatures near 30 degrees. Real feels were in the teens with snow showers expected periodically throughout the day today.
Because it's Michigan, Friday's weather will rebound back up to 60 degrees.