Winter Storm, Mackinac
- When
- January 4, 8:00 AM EST to January 5, 8:00 AM EST
- Where
- Mackinac forecast zone
Winter Storm in Michigan, January 4 to 5, 1997
LOW PRESSURE TRACKING NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS WISCONSIN ALLOWED WARM AIR TO OVERRUN A SHALLOW LAYER OF COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE. WITH 4 TO 6 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION BY EARLY EVENING.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS APX wrote it up.
LOW PRESSURE TRACKING NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS WISCONSIN ALLOWED WARM AIR TO OVERRUN A SHALLOW LAYER OF COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE. PRECIPITATION STARTED AS SNOW ON THE MORNING OF THE 4TH...WITH 4 TO 6 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION BY EARLY EVENING. THE SNOW THEN CHANGED TO FREEZING RAIN LATER IN THE EVENING. FREEZING RAIN...OCCASIONALLY HEAVY...CONTINUED OVERNIGHT. ICE ACCUMULATED UP TO AN INCH ON EXPOSED SURFACES IN MANY AREAS BY THE TIME PRECIPITATION ENDED. THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY WET SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATION BROUGHT DOWN MANY BRANCHES AND POWERLINES. NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS WERE REPORTED DUE TO THE ADVERSE DRIVING CONDITIONS.
Event by event
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard in North Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Tornado in Kentucky, January 4, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in Nebraska, January 4, 1997
- Cold in Illinois, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in Minnesota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Blizzard in North Dakota, January 4 to 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
More
Every storm in Michigan in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, January 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5585803.