Alger storm history

At least two individuals were swimming in Lake Superior at a beach in Alger County, east of the Laughing Whitefish River outlet, when they were both swept out towards the open waters by a rip current. Both individuals were in water that was waist deep when the first individual wa…

A father and his son both drowned in high waves and strong rip currents in Grand Marais Harbor on the afternoon of the 5th. Northwest winds gusting over 30 mph at times contributed to the high waves and strong rip currents.

Lightning strike killed a fork lift operator at a lumber mill in Shingleton.

There were blizzard conditions with frequent wind gusts of 40-55 mph and snowfall of 8-20 in Alger County. The Munising ASOS (KP53) peak gust was 64 mph. Around 10% of customers lost power. Road closures included M-28 due to whiteout conditions. Key Impacts: Very difficult to imp…

Up to 4 inches of snow, combined with temperatures plummeting below freezing, resulted in slippery roadways from the evening of the 18th through the morning of the 19th. Key impacts: travel delays, school closures.

Heavy snowfall totaling 6 to 18 inches along with winds gusting 40 to 60 miles per hour resulted in blizzard conditions. Key impacts: transportation delays, traffic accidents, downed trees and wires, business closures.

The first accumulating snowfall of the year brought 4 to 12 inches to the area, heaviest over the western portion of the county. Key impacts: transportation delays.

Facebook comment with picture showed hail ranging from marble to quarter size.

Hail ranged from pea to quarter size.

Heavy rain resulted in flooding along the Anna River late Monday night into early Tuesday morning. Driveway bridges and a private road were damaged or washed out along M-94, and railroad tracks were washed out between Munising Junction and Munising. Time estimated from radar.

An approximate 75-foot section of the paved trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park was washed out the evening of April 28th from recent heavy rainfall and seasonal snow melt. Time estimated from radar.

A final round of freezing rain and sleet turned to snow on the 30th, with 8 to 14 inches of snowfall before it ended early on the 31st. The additional snow exacerbated travel impacts from the earlier freezing rain. Key impacts: travel delays, school and business closures.

Up to 0.5 inches of ice accumulation was reported, which led to impassable roads, numerous downed trees and lines, and power outages. Warming shelters were established for those who lost power, and some schools and businesses remained closed into Monday, March 31. Key impacts: tr…

Lake effect snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 10 inches, with the highest totals in the western part of the county near Deerton. Key impacts: travel delays.

Heavy wet snow of 4 to 10 inches accumulated, resulting in treacherous travel conditions. Key impacts: travel delays, traffic accidents, school and business closures.

The Munising Lakeshore ASOS KP53 reported wind gusts of over 35 mph from 0956EST on the 5th to 0356EST on the 6th with only a couple of brief drops below 35 mph. Visibility data is unavailable but various media and social media reports indicate low visibility. Storm total snowfal…

Moderate to heavy snow and high winds resulted in blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of February 28th. Winds gusted as high as 59 mph at Munising, and 3-11 inches of snow occurred. M-28 was closed between Harvey and Munising for 11 hours starting at 2100 EST on …

Moderate to heavy snow and high winds resulted in blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of the 28th. Winds gusted as high as 59 mph at Munising, and 3-11 inches of snow occurred. M-28 was closed between Harvey and Munising for 11 hours starting at 2100 EST on the 2…

Periods of lake effect snow occurred between the 16th and the 20th. The most severe conditions occurred on the 16th and 17th when the combination of heavy snow and winds gusting to 40 mph resulted in limited visibility and a road closure on M-28 between Shingleton and Seney. Muni…

Bitter cold wind chills in the 25 below to 30 below zero range were observed throughout much of the period. Schools were closed throughout Alger County on the 20th and 21st due to the bitter cold.

The Michigan State Police closed Highway M-28 from Kawbawgam Road in Harvey to West Shore Drive in Munising due to whiteout conditions in lake effect snow and blowing snow. The road was closed for more than four hours and then reopened just before 6 pm.

The observer near Deerton measured 5.3 inches of snow over 24 hours.

The observer in Munising measured a two-day lake effect snow total of 10.7 inches.

The Munising observer measured 17.8 inches of lake effect snow over less than a 36-hour period. The Grand Marais observer measured 8 inches of snow over the 24-hour period ending the morning of the 12th. Northwest winds gusting over 35 mph at times also caused considerable blowin…

Observers from Forest Lake to Munising and Wetmore measured between 4 and 7 inches of lake enhanced snow over a 24-hour period. Northwest winds gusting as high as 45 mph at times also caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow, resulting in occasional whiteout conditions. S…

Observers from Deerton to Munising measured between 4 to 6 inches of lake enhanced snow over an approximate 12-hour period.

Observers in Munising and near Forest Lakes measured just over 10 inches of lake effect snow while Wetmore received 8 inches in 24 hours.

The observer in Munising measured 22 inches of lake effect snow in 48 hours.

The Grand Marais GLOS station measured a peak north wind gust of 63 mph. Some sporadic power outages were reported in the area.

There was a Facebook report of penny sized hail in Munising.

There were reports on social media of minor street flooding on Onota and Maple Streets in Munising during the evening of the 15th.

Image of half dollar sized hail in Chatham from a social media report.

Law enforcement dispatch reported a downed power line that was smoking along Hayward Road near Sixteen Mile Lake in Alger County.

Report via Facebook southeast of Forest Lake of between dime and quarter-sized hail along with 0.59 inches of rain. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

Estimated golf ball sized hail was observed along National Forest Service Highway 13 along the Alger-Schoolcraft County line.

A storm survey of damage six miles northeast of Round Lake in Alger County revealed straight-line wind damage with several one to two-foot diameter trees uprooted or snapped off 15-20 feet above the ground. Maximum wind gusts were estimated to be between 75-80 mph. Half dollar si…

Report via mPING of penny-sized hail in rural Alger County.

Observers snowfall reports in less than 15 hours included 10 inches at Sundell and 6 inches at Munising. The wet snow combined with northeast winds gusting to around 50 mph caused hazardous travel and knocked out power to nearly 1000 customers while closing schools throughout the…

The Munising observer measured 5 inches of lake effect snow in 24 hours. North winds gusting as high as 35 mph also caused areas of blowing snow and lowered visibility.

Observer 24-hour snowfall reports included 10 inches in Munising ending on the morning of the 29th, and 5.5 inches and 5.4 inches respectively at Forest Lake and Au Train ending on the morning of the 28th.

Observer 24-hour lake effect snowfall reports included 5.0 inches eleven miles south of Grand Marais and 4.9 inches six miles southeast of Forest Lake.

Observers in the higher terrain south of Munising and Wetmore measured between 5 to 7 inches of lake effect snow over a 24-hour period.

Bitter cold wind chills around 25 below zero were reported across portions of Alger County on the morning of the 16th. Munising Schools were closed on the 16th due to the cold.

Two-day storm total lake effect snowfall across Alger County ranged from 8 to 12 inches along the Lake Superior shoreline to as much as 18 to 24 inches over higher terrain areas south of Munising and Grand Marais. North winds gusting as high as 45 mph also resulted in near-blizza…

There was a social media report of between 19 and 24 inches of snowfall in Melstrand over a 39-hour period. Other reports over Alger County during the same period included 10 inches at 11 miles south of Grand Marais, 6.5 inches in Chatham and around 5-6 inches in the Munising and…