High Wind — Eastern Mackinac County, Michigan

2021-12-16 · Eastern Mackinac County, Michigan

Event narrative

Additionally, the Mackinac Bridge was at least partially closed for 12 hours to high profile vehicles due to the high winds with at least 82 mph reported from mid-span of the bridge.

Wider weather episode

An impressive sub-980mb cyclone tracked across western Lake Superior into Ontario during the morning of 12/16, bringing widespread wind gusts of 60-70mph across all of northern Michigan. The highest gust recorded was 70mph at Traverse City Cherry Capitol airport. Widespread downed trees, limbs and powerlines were seen across the County Warning Area, leaving many with power outages that extended for several days. Some schools and businesses across the area were forced to close for the day due to power outages. The Mackinac Bridge was forced to partially close to high profile vehicles for around 12 hours due to winds reported of 82 mph from the mid-span of the bridge.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 992345. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.