Winter Storm — Huron, Michigan

2007-03-01 to 2007-03-02 · Huron, Michigan

Event narrative

A high impact ice storm resulted in ice accumulations up to 3 inches thick on trees and power lines.

Wider weather episode

The last winter storm of the 2006 - 2007 season, true to form, brought yet another batch of mixed precipitation to Southeast Michigan, and resulted in a high impact event across the Thumb region, where heavy freezing rain caused significant icing. A strong low pressure system, moving northeast out of Oklahoma, was to blame. Ahead of this system, a warm and moist airmass from the Gulf of Mexico was drawn north into Michigan atop a sub-freezing layer at the surface. The event started before sunrise on March 1st, when a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain fell along and south of the I69 corridor. By early afternoon, temperatures had climbed above freezing in these areas and precipitation changed over to all rain. Minor icing, up to two tenths of an inch on elevated surfaces, had only minimal impacts with only a few reports of a few small limbs down. Farther north, the precipitation started as all snow and accumulated up to 4 inches before changing over to freezing rain by late afternoon. Temperatures remained just below freezing throughout the evening, when several bands of very heavy precipitation led to significant icing across portions of Midland County, Bay County, and the Thumb. Areas hardest hit, with widespread ice accumulations around an inch, were across northern Tuscola County, northern Sanilac County, and throughout Huron County, especially in communities along the shoreline in the tip of the Thumb. Most of the damage occurred between 2200 EST on March 1st and 0100 EST on March 2nd, when strong winds gusted up to 50 MPH and brought down widespread trees and snapped power poles in half for miles. More than half of the Huron County population, more than 15,000, lost power. Some were without power for up to 6 days. Hundreds of Huron County residents sought refuge in emergency shelters set up by the Red Cross. Hundreds of traffic accidents were reported during the storm. Most traffic related injuries were minor, but about a half dozen people were critically injured and at least one death was blamed on the storm (indirect). A 40 year old man lost his life in a fatal car accident caused by icy roads and high winds in Lapeer County. The total monetary value attributed to this storm was estimated at around $1.5M, with nearly all of this in Huron County alone.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 23157. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.