Keweenaw storm history

High winds, accumulating snow, and cold temperatures resulted in blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of the 22nd. Key impacts: traffic accidents, transportation delays.

Low visibility due to windy conditions and lake effect snow continued on most of the 23rd into the early morning of the 24th. Key impacts: transportation delays.

Wind chills as low as -35F were observed on the 23rd and 24th, and as low as -20F on the 25th and 26th. Key impacts: school and business closures.

Wind chill of -20F reported at the Copper Harbor ASOS KP59 at 0151 EST, 1/20.

Heavy lake effect snow and blowing snow brought periods of visibility down to 1/4 mile at the Houghton County Airport ASOS (KCMX). The Kearsarge CO-OP, just outside of Keweenaw County, reported 8 of snow in 24 hours as of 0800 EST on 1/19. Key impacts: Transportation delays.

Houghton County Airport (KCMX) reported visibility of 1/4 mile for over 3 hours as heavy lake effect snow moved through the Keweenaw resulting in near-blizzard conditions. Winds gusted as high as 49 mph. Key Impacts: Transportation delays.

Light freezing rain resulted in a glaze of ice on untreated surfaces. Key impacts: transportation delays.

A brief period of heavy snow resulted in 3 to 6 inches of accumulation and snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. Key impacts: transportation delays, school closures.

High waves resulted in debris washing over a portion of highway M-26.

Winds sustained over 30 mph for several hours with frequent gusts 50-60 mph over the Keweenaw Peninsula and snowfall of around a foot. The Copper Harbor ASOS (KP59) peak gust was 62 mph. Key Impacts: Very difficult to impossible travel.

The combination of light to moderate snow and strong winds resulted in 30% of customers losing power in Keweenaw County. Key impacts: scattered power outages.

Up to 7 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 1.5 to 2 feet along with winds gusting 40 to 60 miles per hour resulted in blizzard conditions. Twenty-seven percent of customers (around 1,300) lost power across the county. Key impacts: transportation delays, traffic accidents, power outages, downed tree…

Heavy snow and gusty winds occurred on the 23rd into early on the 24th, resulting in treacherous travel conditions and snowfall accumulations around a foot. Key impacts: travel delays, school and business closures.

The Copper Harbor ASOS KP59 reported wind gusts of over 35 mph from around 0500EST on the 5th to about 0200EST on the 6th. Visibility data is unavailable but various webcams indicated low visibility. The storm total snowfall at the CoCoRaHS site MI-KW-3 Ahmeek was 9.1 inches. The…

Moderate to heavy snow and high winds resulted in blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of February 28th, with snow winding down on March 1. Winds gusted as high as 58 mph at Copper Harbor, and several inches of snow occurred. Key impacts: transportation delays, tr…

Moderate to heavy snow and high winds resulted in blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of the 28th. Winds gusted as high as 58 mph at Copper Harbor, and several inches of snow occurred.

The mesonet station OJIM4 Ojibway - Isle Royale reported a wind chill of -26 degrees at 8:30 AM on the 17th and a wind chill of -29 degrees at 7:30 AM on the 18th.

The CoCoRaHS observer MI-KW-3 Ahmeek 0.1 E reported a 12-hour snowfall total of 14.5 inches by 8 AM on the 10th. The event total at this location was 21.5 inches. Houghton-Keweenaw County Schools delayed the start of school on the 10th and 11th. Key impacts: travel delays, school…

Several hours of blizzard conditions were reported during the afternoon and evening of the 6th. Michigan State Police reported that several cars were reported to be in ditches and advised against travel on US-41. Multiple schools in the impacted areas were released early on the 6…

The University of Michigan mesonet station at Mount Horace Greeley measured a peak wind gust through the period of 64 mph.

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

The observer at Ahmeek measured 5 inches of snow in 24 hours.

An estimated 3 to 6 inches of lake effect snow along with considerable blowing snow occurred over the 24-hour period ending on the morning of the 12th. Houghton-Keweenaw Schools were closed on the 12th as a result of the snow and blowing snow and wind chills lowering to 25 below …

An estimated 3 to 6 inches of lake enhanced snow fell across Keweenaw County over a 24-hour period. Northwest winds gusting as high as 40 mph also caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow, resulting in whiteout conditions at times. Houghton-Keweenaw County Schools were cl…

There was a Facebook report at Allouez of 18 inches of lake effect snow over an approximate 30-hour period.

An estimated 3 and 5 inches of snow fell across Keweenaw County over 24 hours.

A 62-mph north wind gust was reported at the ASOS in Copper Harbor. Sporadic power outages were also reported across the area during the day.

Storm total snowfall from observers over a five-day included 37.6 inches at Calumet-Tamarack and 28 inches at Kearsarge. North winds gusting over 35 mph at times caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow and lowered visibility. Snow drifts were reported to be more than fou…

There was a Facebook report of 16 inches of lake effect snow in Allouez in less than 24 hours. North winds gusting to 40 mph at times also resulted in considerable blowing and drifting of snow and occasional whiteout conditions at times.

Several days of well above normal to near record warm high and low temperatures and continued snowmelt led to periods of dense fog over Keweenaw County from the 25th into the 28th. Also, a brown Christmas was observed across Keweenaw County for the first time since 2015.

Park rangers in Isle Royale National Park reported a tree down, an 80-pound aluminum canoe taken off its rack, and a portion of the floating dock torn at and around Windigo.

An estimated 2 to 6 inches of widespread wet, heavy snow across the county combined with blowing snow from north winds gusting to 50 mph at times caused very hazardous travel conditions on the 1st. Schools were closed throughout the county on the 1st.

Local media reported Highway M-26 was closed on the evening of the 22nd due to the collapse of a retaining wall at the Silver River Bridge in Keweenaw County. The bridge's already compromised stone retaining wall eroded due to the heavy runoff from spring snow melt forcing the cl…

Many locations across the county received an estimated one tenth to two tenths of an inch of ice accumulation from freezing rain early morning on the 5th.

An estimated 4 to 9 inches of lake enhanced snow fell over an approximate 12-hour period. North winds gusting near 35 mph also caused blowing and drifting of snow. Schools were closed throughout the county on the 23rd.

An estimated 4 to 7 inches of lake enhanced snow fell over an approximate 18-hour period.

Wind chills lowered into the 25 below to 30 below zero range on the morning of the 3rd throughout Keweenaw County.

Observers reported moderate lake effect snow accumulation of approximately 4-5 inches per day on the 1st and 2nd with considerable blowing snow on the 2nd due to northwest winds gusting over 40 mph at times.

Estimated two-day snowfall totals from the morning of the 29th into the morning of the 31st exceeded a foot over much of Keweenaw County.

An estimated five-day lake enhanced storm total snowfall of over 30 inches at Mohawk combined with very strong northwest winds gusting as high as 70 mph at times at Copper Harbor caused blizzard conditions and extreme blowing and drifting of snow across the Keweenaw Peninsula fro…

The Copper Harbor ASOS measured north wind gusts in excess of 45 mph throughout much of the period with a peak gust of 56 mph around 2 am on the 18th. Some minor tree damage occurred with the higher winds.

Estimated heat indices were between 95F and 100F across the county on the afternoon of the 20th and stayed above 80F through the evening hours.

The Copper Harbor ASOS measured a peak south wind gust of 58 mph.

A mix of snow and widespread freezing rain of a 0.25 inch or more caused treacherous and icy road conditions, tree damage and widespread power outages during the period. Schools were cancelled on the 23rd due to the impacts from the freezing rain.

The Keweenaw County Road Commission measured a two-day lake effect snowfall total of 26.5 inches near Phoenix. East winds gusting near 35 mph also aused greatly reduced visibility at times in blowing snow. Keweenaw County Schools were closed on the 22nd and 23rd due to impacts fr…

An estimated four to five inches of lake effect snow fell over a 24-hour period. Northwest winds gusting as high as 50 to 60 mph also caused near whiteout conditions at times in blowing snow.

The Copper Harbor ASOS measured warning criteria winds through the period with a peak north wind gust of 66 mph just after 10 pm EST.

The Ojibway RAWS station on Isle Royale measured wind chill readings as low as 30 below zero on the morning of the 3rd.