Michigan, 2000

Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 20 to 22, 2000

December 20 to 22, 2000 · NWS MQT · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

During the 21st and 22nd, a winter storm system moved from Minnesota, across Upper Michigan, and into Lake Huron. Southeast winds ahead of the storm center picked up moisture from Lake Michigan.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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.

During the 21st and 22nd, a winter storm system moved from Minnesota, across Upper Michigan, and into Lake Huron. Southeast winds ahead of the storm center picked up moisture from Lake Michigan. As the low moved farther east, winds shifted to the northeast behind the system and Lake Superior fueled the snow machine. Snow fell over all of the Upper Peninsula with the greatest amounts in areas where the system snow was enhanced by the moisture and instability from Lakes Michigan and Superior. Twenty-four hour snowfall amounts included 12 inches in Ironwood, 16 inches in Manistique, 16 inches in Copper Harbor, 11 inches in Chatham, and 10 inches in Ontonagon and Houghton.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Schoolcraft

When
December 20, 10:00 PM EST to December 21, 5:30 PM EST
Where
Schoolcraft forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.043, -86.177 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Alger

When
December 21, 8:00 AM EST to December 22, 4:00 PM EST
Where
Alger forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.451, -86.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ontonagon

When
December 21, 4:00 PM EST to December 22, 4:00 PM EST
Where
Ontonagon forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.778, -89.305 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Gogebic

When
December 21, 4:00 PM EST to December 22, 11:00 AM EST
Where
Gogebic forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.496, -89.796 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Houghton

When
December 21, 4:00 PM EST to December 22, 4:00 PM 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, Keweenaw

When
December 21, 4:00 PM EST to December 22, 4:00 PM 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

More

Every storm in Michigan in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 2000

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: 5168876, 5169273, 5168877, 5168878, 5168879, 5168880.