Michigan, 2001

Heavy Snow in Michigan, April 1, 2001

April 1, 2001 · NWS DTX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
$4,000
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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 1, 3:30 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 1, 3:30 AM EST, 30 minutes before
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
430 AM EDT SUN APR 1 2001

FORECAST CHALLENGES THIS APRIL FOOL/S DAY...PRECIP CHANCES TODAY AND
MONDAY NIGHT.

NARROW BAND OF PRECIP STEADILY MARCHING TOWARD CWA EARLY THIS
MORNING. BEST LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PRECIP AREA DEPICTED WELL BY
850 MB DEFORMATION AXIS AND SURFACE CONVERGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH
INVERTED TROUGH. BOTH THESE FEATURES WILL WEAKEN AS DAY PROGRESSES...BUT
SHOULD PROVIDE SUFFICIENT LIFT TO GENERATE CATEGORICAL POPS FOR A
FNT...PTK...DTW LINE AND POINTS SOUTH AND WEST. NORTH AND EAST OF
THIS LINE...EXPECT LIKELY POPS. PRECIP TYPE WILL BE A PROBLEM THIS
MORNING. DESPITE 1000-850 MB THICKNESS VALUES WELL IN EXCESS OF
1300M...LEADING EDGE OF THE BAND HAS SEEN A TRANSITION FROM RAIN TO
SNOW AS BAND HAS ENCOUNTERED DRIER AIR IN PLACE ACROSS EASTERN HALF
OF THE STATE. BUFKIT PRECIP TYPE SHOWS MAINLY SNOW TO OCCUR ACROSS
CWA THIS MORNING...WITH RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON AS BOUNDARY
LAYER TEMPS WARM. EXPECT PRECIP TO START AS MAINLY SNOW THIS
MORNING...AS EVAPORATIVE COOLING WILL LEAD TEMPERATURE PROFILE TO
CONVERGE TOWARD WET BULB...WHICH IS BELOW ZERO. GIVEN WARM SURFACE
TEMPERATURES...NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE WAY OF ACCUMULATION.
INVERTED TROUGH SLOWLY MAKES WAY ACROSS CWA TODAY...BUT ONLY
GRUDGINGLY DEPARTS EASTERN AREAS OVERNIGHT. WILL HAVE CHANCE OF
EARLY SHOWER WESTERN CWA...AND HIGHER...AND LINGERING CHANCE EAST.

MONDAY...WILL MAINTAIN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR SAGINAW VALLEY FOR
MONDAY AS VORT LOBE ASSOCIATED WITH ETA-PROGGED DEEP VORTEX OVER
LAKE SUPERIOR BEGINS TO SWING ACROSS NORTHERN CWA BY LATE AFTERNOON.
AVN AND NGM NOT SUPPORTIVE OF THIS VORTEX...HOWEVER CANADIAN IS AND
WILL GIVE NOD TO CANADIAN/ETA DUO.

MONDAY NIGHT...DPVA ASSOCIATED WITH THIS VORT WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH
LIFT TO GENERATE SHRA...EXCEPT FOR THUMB WHERE SHSNRA POSSIBLE. ACROSS
SOUTHERN PART OF THE CWA...110 KNOT JETLET CROSSING REGION KICKS OFF
SHRA ACTIVITY. CURRENT FORECAST HAS NO PRECIP MENTIONED FOR MONDAY
NIGHT...HOWEVER...WILL UPDATE TO LOW CHANCE POPS GIVEN THESE FORCING
FACTORS.

MAV DAYTIME TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE ON THE HIGH SIDE TODAY AND
MONDAY...AND WILL TEMPER. NIGHTTIME TEMPS IN LINE WITH FWC/MAV/ETA
2M.

.DTX...NONE.

OKEEFE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Livingston

When
April 1, 4:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Livingston forecast zone
Property damage
$4,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.603, -83.911 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A complex low pressure system moved east across lower Michigan during the morning. Precipitation fell as a mix of rain and snow, and was generally light. Livingston County was an exception, seeing both heavier precipitation and almost all snow. By afternoon, up to 3 inches had fallen in and near Howell. The April Fools Day snow collapsed several tents at Howell High School, where a home show was in progress. Numerous accidents were reported in the Brighton area.

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 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, April 2001

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: 5241026.