Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 24 to 31, 2001

A stalled out area of low pressure near the Ontario and Quebec border caused a prolonged period of lake effect snow across northern Michigan from December 24th to the 31st. While the heavy areas of snow shifted around from day to day, snow was falling across some portion of the region through the period. The most impressive snowfall totals were reported across Emmet and Charlevoix counties and to a lesser extent across Grand Traverse and Cheboygan counties. In fact, a State of Emergency was declared in Emmet and Charlevoix counties by Michigan Governor Engler so that equipment, personnel, and money would become available to assist with snow removal. The cities of Petoskey and Charlevoix broke their 2 and 3 day snowfall total records with amounts of 44 and 60 inches (on the 25th through the 27th) and 27 and 39 inches (on the 26th through the 28th) respectively. Emmet county requested $59,538.34 in disaster assistance from the state for snow removal operations December 24th through the 29th and Charlevoix county requested $15,906.85 for the same period. Traverse City tied their 2 day snowfall record with 20.5 inches from the 28th through the 29th. Many other areas saw snowfall totals of a foot or more during the last week of December.