Ice Storm — Oakland, Michigan

2003-04-03 to 2003-04-05 · Oakland, Michigan

Wider weather episode

An arctic frontal boundary moved south of the state by the morning of April 3, 2003. This front dropped temperatures to the freezing mark generally along and north of a Brighton to St Clair Shores line. Then, a series of low pressure systems moved across the front. This allowed very warm and moist air to lift north overtop of the sub-freezing temperatures near the ground. The first wave of precipitation moved across eastern Michigan late in the evening on April 3rd and continued through the morning of April 4th. Thunderstorms brought heavy freezing rain to the area during this time period. Spotter reports indicated up to 3 inches of freezing rain occurred in some places. Sleet was also reported across much of the Saginaw Valley. By the afternoon of April 4th, ice accumulations of one quarter to three quarters of an inch were reported across the area. The Saginaw Valley even had one to two inches of sleet accumulations in addition to the ice. After a break in the precipitation during the afternoon of the 4th, a second round of thunderstorms brought freezing rain and sleet to the area during the evening of April 4th, finally ending early in the morning of April 5th. By the morning of the 5th, ice accumulations ranged from one half to one inch. Sleet had also accumulated up to two inches in and around Flint and the Saginaw Valley. Since the road and ground surfaces were warmed due to very warm weather the later half of March, most of the ice accumulations occurred on elevated surfaces, like trees and power lines. The ice accumulations led to considerable tree damage and widespread power outages across the entire area. Locations hardest hit, with around an inch of ice reported on the trees, were across northern Oakland County, northern Macomb County, and throughout Lapeer, St Clair, Sanilac and Huron counties. In these areas, the tree damage was so severe that dozens of roads were blocked by trees and damage occurred to hundreds of homes, businesses and automobiles as tree limbs, or in many cases large trees themselves, were brought to the ground under the weight of the ice. It was estimated that 450,000 homes and businesses lost power during the storm. In fact nearly 50,000 people were without power for up to a week as persistent cold temperatures keep the heavy ice on the trees for 4 days after the storm. Crews came from four different states to help local utility companies restore power and remove hundreds of broken tree branches away from power lines. A 74-year old man in Troy (Oakland County) was killed when he was struck in the head by a falling tree branch (direct). Three other people died due to carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of poorly ventilated generators (indirect). Two woman were injured in Orion (Oakland County) when a large tree fell onto the car they were in (direct). Five house fires were said to have started by electrical lines being brought down onto the homes. Hundreds of traffic accidents were reported during the storm as well, most of which were in the Saginaw Valley where sleet had sickened the roadways. An estimated two dozen people were injured in traffic accidents (indirect). A 59-year old Bay county man died when his car slid into a ditch filled with water (indirect). A 47-year old Deerfield Township (Lapeer County) man was also killed when he fell from a 40-foot tall bucket truck trying to trim an ice covered tree limb before it fell onto his house (indirect). Statements were made by several long-time residents that this was the worst ice storm to hit the area since the 1970s.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5350349. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.