Heavy Snow, Houghton
- When
- December 23, 11:00 AM EST to December 25, 5:00 AM EST
- Where
- Houghton forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 46.992, -88.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 23 to 25, 1998
Strong west winds pushed frigid arctic air across Lake Superior... developing a band of lake effect snow squalls that extended from the Apostle Islands, across the Keweenaw Peninsula and into central Lake Superior.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 MQT wrote it up.
Strong west winds pushed frigid arctic air across Lake Superior... developing a band of lake effect snow squalls that extended from the Apostle Islands, across the Keweenaw Peninsula and into central Lake Superior. The snow squalls over the Keweenaw Peninsula continued until the wind shifted to the southwest. Snowfall totals were in excess of 30 inches at Calumet and at the Houghton County airport, but exact measurements were impossible because of the blowing and drifting.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Keweenaw
- When
- December 23, 11:00 AM EST to December 25, 5:00 AM EST
- Where
- Keweenaw forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 47.283, -88.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Ice Storm in Alabama, December 23 to 25, 1998
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, December 23 to 24, 1998
- Ice Storm in Virginia, December 23 to 25, 1998
- Cold in Arkansas, December 23, 1998
- Ice Storm in Maryland, December 23 to 25, 1998
- Ice Storm in North Carolina, December 23 to 25, 1998
- Ice Storm in Alabama, December 23 to 24, 1998
- Winter Storm in Texas, December 23, 1998
- Ice Storm in North Carolina, December 23 to 25, 1998
- Ice Storm in Virginia, December 23 to 24, 1998
- Ice Storm in Oklahoma, December 23 to 24, 1998
- Winter Storm in Kentucky, December 23 to 24, 1998
More
Every storm in Michigan in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 1998
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5674648, 5674649.