Lightning — Washtenaw, Michigan

2000-12-11 · near Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan

Event narrative

A lightning strike ignited a large home just northwest of Ann Arbor. The home was destroyed by fire.

Wider weather episode

A powerful storm system moved east just south of Michigan, dumping heavy snow across all of the area, with some freezing rain and sleet near the Ohio border. Near blizzard conditions were found across all of the area, with an outright blizzard in the Thumb. Many schools were closed for two to four days after the storm. Mail delivery the next day was spotty at best, and many businesses and government offices were closed. Several communities declared snow emergencies, forbidding all non-emergency travel until crews could clear roads. Presidential Emergency Declarations were made for all counties in southeast Michigan except Wayne, Lenawee, and Monroe.Specific snowfall amounts and impacts of the storm, by county: Bay: 7" in Essexville; 8" near Linwood; 8 to 10" in Bay City with lightning. Genesee: 14" in Fenton; 13-14" in Burton with 45 mph winds. In Flint, 12-14" fell, along with 45 mph winds and 4 foot drifts. Flint Bishop International Airport closed in the afternoon of the 11th, and ended up with 14", the third largest snowfall on record. Up to 200 cars were stranded on Interstate 75 just south of Flint during the storm. The Flint Journal was unable to publish on the 12th, the first time that happened in 42 years (it was a strike that shut the newspaper down then). This was believed to be the first time ever that the Flint Journal did not publish due to a weather event in its 124 year history. In Burton, the roof of a window manufacturing company collapsed. One person suffered a hand injury. Huron: 6-10" in Bad Axe; 13" near Rapson; 16.2" in Port Hope with blizzard conditions and wind gusts to 58 mph; 8" in Sebewaing. Lapeer: 12-16" near Lapeer (city), with 3 foot drifts and 40 mph winds, closing the Lapeer Post Office for the first time ever due to weather. More than 12" in Imlay City. Interstate 69 was closed from Davison to Imlay City during the night. Lenawee: 5.7" in Adrian with some freezing rain; 5.8" in Tipton; Hudson had 2.5" and freezing rain, and missed mail delivery for the first time since the blizzard of 1978. Livingston: 10.4" in Hell; 10" in Howell; 10-15" in Brighton, with 3 to 5 foot drifts and 40 to 50 mph winds. Macomb: 12" in Harrison Township, Romeo, Sterling Hts, and Utica; 9.8" in Mt Clemens; 9-11" in St Clair Shores. A house burned to the ground in Richmond during the night, as firefighters were unable to reach the home due to weather and road conditions. Midland: 7 to 11" in Midland (city) with 35 mph winds; 8.6" in the south central portion of the county. Monroe: 8.5" just southeast of Milan; up to half an inch of freezing rain in Monroe (city) along with 2-5" of snow, with several trees downed due to ice and wind, and power outages to 2500 homes, and several injury accidents; 3-5" in Dundee with some sleet and freezing rain, and 2 foot drifts covered US-23. Oakland: 12" in Royal Oak; 12-14" in Oxford; 14" in White Lake; 11-12" in Farmington and Farmington Hills; 11" in West Bloomfield; 8.8" in Milford; 11-12" in South Lyon with 40 mph winds. St Clair: 12.3" near Avoca, with thunder and a 48 mph wind gust; 14.7" in Ruby; 17.5" in Yale, which was the biggest storm since 1947; 14" in Capac. In Port Huron, 12-20" of snow fell along with thunder and wind gusts to 50 mph, closing the Blue Water Bridge to Canada, and destroying a golf dome. Saginaw: 8.5" in Saginaw (city); 8" near Shields with thunder and near blizzard conditions; 6.7" in Chesaning; 11" in Frankenmuth with 3 foot drifts, roads drifted shut, 40 mph winds, and lightning. MBS (Tri Cities) International Airport had many flights cancelled, and the airport was closed at 830 pm on the 11th, with 40 mph winds, visibilities as low as 2 feet, and snowfall of 9.8". Sanilac: 13" in Brown City; 12" in Sandusky; 8" in Marlette; 8.9" in Deckerville. Shiawassee: 10.2" in Owosso with very strong winds; 12" in Byron; 15.5" in Morrice; 9.3" in Corunna. Tuscola: 8" in Akron with thunder; 10.5" in Caro Center; 11.0" in Cass City; 13.5" in Millington and Fairgrove Township; 10-14" in Vassar. In Caro, 16.3" of snow fell, along with 40-50 mph wind, zero visibility, 4 foot drifts, and lightning, producing 41 automobile accidents, including an 18 car pile-up on the north side of town that required snowmobiles to rescue stranded motorists. Washtenaw: 10.5" in Chelsea; 8-12" in Ann Arbor; 7-12" in Ypsilanti with 35 mph gusts along with thunder and sleet, closing Eastern Michigan University for only the second time ever; 7.5" near Saline; more than 10" in Dexter; 6-12" in Manchester. Wayne: 6-12" in Dearborn and Dearborn Hts, as well as 45 mph winds and around 50 auto accidents; 7" in Grosse Pointe Farms; 8-10" in Hamtramck; 6-8" in Romulus with sleet; 12" in Belleville; 5" and some freezing rain in Grosse Ile (power outages in nearby Trenton); 4-6" in Flat Rock; 8.1" in Allen Park; three-eighths inches of freezing rain in Rockwood; 8-11" in Wayne (city) with some sleet and 35 mph winds; 10.5" in Livonia; 6-9" in Plymouth and Canton; golf dome collapsed in Northville. At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, 6.1" fell, with 197 departures and 165 arrivals were cancelled (many hours ahead of time), and 150 travelers spent the night at the airport. Cancellations numbered 125 the next day.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5177529. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.