Winter Storm in Otsego, Michigan

Twenty-four hour snowfall total between midnight on the 27th and 28th at WFO Gaylord, 9mi SSW of the city of Gaylord, MI, was 13.1 inches, with a storm total of 19.6 inches. Areas just west and south of the office, particularly the Wilderness Valley and Waters area were more consistently beneath the more intense snow band, received nearly 20 inches of snow by the middle of the day on the 27th...with storm totals as high as 25inches. Snowfall totals varied dramatically across the county, with some areas (not under the band) receiving closer to 10 inches or less over the course of 72 hrs.

Low pressure crossed the Upper Midwest Wednesday and Wednesday night. Rain changed to light snow through the day Wednesday as temperatures fell behind the initial cold front. Northwesterly winds strengthened dramatically behind the front, gusting into the 40-50mph range Wednesday night. Strong winds continued into Thanksgiving day, exacerbating impacts from intense northwest flow lake effect snow bands across northwest Lower Michigan in particular. The most prominent band stretched largely from the Norwood/Charlevoix area down through Mancelona/Lakes of the North into the Frederic area in Crawford county...occasionally stretching as far southeast as Arenac county due to the strong winds aloft. Reports of 14 to 15 inches began filtering in as early as 10-11am on Thanksgiving morning, with some reports of over 20 inches near Frederic by 1pm. This band continued to persist in the same general area through most of the day, only slowly shifting around into Thursday night. Additional lake effect snow fell during the day Friday, though intensity tapered off through the morning as the excessively favorable environment began to wane.