Extreme Cold in Michigan, December 21 to 29, 2000

Name: Extreme Cold in Michigan, December 21 to 29, 2000
Start: 2000-12-21T18:00
End: 2000-12-29T12:00
Location: Michigan

December 21 to 29, 2000 · NWS DTX · 17 events in 17 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 17 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: $475,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 17

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 DTX wrote it up.

Though the worst of the snow was over, the worst of the cold was just beginning. Temperatures never got out of single digits on the 22nd, with Detroit seeing a high of only 4 degrees, after a morning low of 3 below zero. Flint wasn't much better, recovering from a low of -5 to reach 8 degrees in the afternoon. That would prove to be the coldest daytime temperatures of the month - but some colder nights were still in store, especially for Flint. Christmas morning dawned clear and frigid, with a morning low of 13 degrees below zero at Flint, setting an all-time mark for the month of December (the old record was -12 on Dec 23, 1989). Three nights later, Flint would give the new record a run for its money, coming up just short with a low of -11 on the 28th (this was still a new record for the day).The arctic weather would take a toll on pipes. Both Ypsilanti High School and Chelsea High School had pipes burst over Christmas weekend, damaging classrooms. Several buildings on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor had similar ruptures, including the School of Dentistry and Wolverine Tower.The cold also hampered shipping interests. Ice formation was extremely rapid on the Great Lakes and the connecting waterways. Several freighters got stuck in ice on both the Detroit River and Lake St Clair, blocking the shipping channel and bringing dozens of ships to a halt. Icebreaker assistance was needed to free the freighters. Ferry service on the St Clair River between Michigan and Canada was also interrupted due to ice jams.Average temperatures for the month were 19.3 degrees in Detroit, 16.6 at Flint, and 17.2 in Saginaw. End result: the 4th coldest December of all time in Detroit, and the 2nd coldest at both Flint and Saginaw. Combined with the high snowfall totals, and it's safe to say: if you don't like cold and snow, then December of 2000 was the most miserable December in southeast Michigan history. No other December on record comes close to its combination of heavy snow and brutal cold.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

17 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Midland

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Midland forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.647, -84.388 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Bay

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Bay forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.721, -83.942 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Saginaw

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Saginaw forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.335, -84.053 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Huron

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Huron forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.910, -82.855 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Tuscola

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Tuscola forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.491, -83.440 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sanilac

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Sanilac forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.443, -82.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Shiawassee

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Shiawassee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.954, -84.147 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Genesee

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Genesee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.022, -83.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lapeer

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Lapeer forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.090, -83.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, St. Clair

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: St. Clair forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.931, -82.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Livingston

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.603, -83.911 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Oakland

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Oakland forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.660, -83.386 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Macomb

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Macomb forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.673, -82.910 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Washtenaw

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Washtenaw forecast zone
Property damage: $475,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.253, -83.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wayne

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.285, -83.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lenawee

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Lenawee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.895, -84.066 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Monroe

When: December 21, 6:00 PM EST to December 29, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.921, -83.494 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Michigan in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5178010, 5178011, 5178012, 5178013, 5178014, 5178015, 5178016, 5178149, 5178150, 5178289, 5178290, 5178291, 5178292, 5178293, 5178294, 5178295, 5178296.