NORA WILLIFORD SHOVELS the sidewalk at her house on North Pyle Drive in Kingsford on Wednesday afternoon as her dog Spark enjoys the snow in the front yard. The Iron Mountain area got about 2 inches of the white stuff Wednesday, while the northern portion of Dickinson County received 3 inches, according to the National Weather Service. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Lake effect snow was expected to reach into Dickinson County today as a winter weather advisory issued by the National Weather Service was slated to last until noon.

The National Weather Service warned of slippery roads and winds gusting as high as 35 mph.

From Wednesday afternoon into today, NWS called for 1 to 3 inches of snow while AccuWeather predicted as much as 6 inches by 5 p.m. today at Iron Mountain-Kingsford.

“Blowing and drifting snow with this event may be significantly worse due to plunging temperatures and the snow becoming more dry and powdery in nature,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

Wind chills between zero and 5 degrees were predicted for tonight, with a low near 9.

The wintry blast may be short-lived. After a chilly Friday — a high near 22 — the weekend forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 34 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday.

As for the long term, a December through February forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a 45% chance of above-normal precipitation in the central Upper Peninsula and a 20% chance of below normal. NWS is neutral on winter temperatures for the region, while the Weather Channel slightly favors above average.

La Nina — a periodic cooling of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean that typically delivers higher precipitation to the U.P. — is expected to emerge and persist through winter. It may, however, be a weak event, forecasters say.

After a dry late summer and early fall, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions across much of the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. There is severe drought in Vilas County, Wis., extending into Ontonagon County.

Iron Mountain-Kingsford shows moderate drought, despite a wet November. A total of 4.66 inches of water-equivalent precipitation was recorded at the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Wastewater Treatment Plant last month, which was more than 2.5 inches above average. The November precipitation included 2.3 inches of snow.

Water equivalent precipitation at Iron Mountain-Kingsford from July through November totaled 10.3 inches, which was 4.5 inches below normal.

Temperatures at Iron Mountain-Kingsford averaged 37 degrees in November, which was 4.5 degrees above normal. The highest reading was 60 degrees reported Nov. 5 and the lowest was 13 on Nov. 30.

This year is on track to be among the warmest on record. After a very mild winter, summer temperatures were close to normal while temperatures from September through November averaged nearly 5 degrees above normal.

Winter officially arrives at 3:21 a.m. Central time Saturday, Dec. 21, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted as far away from the Sun as possible. Sunrise on that date at Iron Mountain-Kingsford will be 7:29 a.m. and sunset will be 4:12 p.m. — the shortest amount of daylight for the year.