Heavy Snow, Muskegon
- When
- March 24, 5:00 PM EST to March 26, 7:00 AM EST
- Where
- Muskegon forecast zone
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 43.219, -86.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 24 to 26, 2001
An upper level low moved into the region, causing a prolonged lake effect snow event, from the evening hours of the 24th through the morning of the 26th. m.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
- 3
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 GRR wrote it up.
An upper level low moved into the region, causing a prolonged lake effect snow event, from the evening hours of the 24th through the morning of the 26th. 6 inches of snow fell across Muskegon, Ottawa and Allegan counties between 7 p.m. on the 25th and 7 a.m. the 26th. This brought storm total snowfall for the entire event to as high as 12 inches across southern Muskegon county, Ottawa county, and into northern Allegan county. Additional snowfall totals included the following: 4 inches in Wyoming and Grandville (Kent county); 3 to 4 inches in South Haven (Van Buren county); 2 to 3 inches across Mason county; and 1 to 3 inches across Kalamazoo county.
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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 24, 3:40 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 3:40 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 340 PM EST SAT MAR 24 2001 STILL NOT MUCH ORGANIZATION TO THE SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON. NOT MUCH CHANGE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH INVERSION HEIGHTS PROGGED TO REMAIN AROUND 5K FEET... AND NVA INDICATED ALOFT. 850 MB TEMPS DO CONTINUE TO SLOWLY FALL AND DELTA T/S REACH ABOUT 20C BY MORNING. WITH FLOW BACKING TO MORE OF A WESTERLY DIRECTION AND PLENTY OF MOISTURE IN THE CBL... SHOULD SEE A CONTINUATION OF SNOW SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. ANY ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED BE MINOR UNLESS A DOMINENT BAND SETS UP. WILL CARRY LIKELY POPS WEST WITH AN INCH OR SO POSSIBLE... AND CHANCE/SCATTERED POPS EAST. SUNDAY LOOKS LIKE A DIFFERENT STORY AS UPPER LOW DROPS SOUTH TOWARD LAKE HURON AND A POTENT SHORTWAVE PIVOTS THROUGH. CORE OF COLDEST AIR AND DEEPER MOISTURE WILL ACCOMPANY THIS WAVE... WITH 500 MB TEMPS AS COLD AS -39C. INVERSIONS SHOULD RISE ACCORDINGLY OR BE ERASED ENTIRELY... RESULTING IN MORE INTENSE SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY. WILL RAISE POPS TO CATEGORICAL WEST WITH 1 TO 3 INCH ACCUMULATIONS... AND GO LIKELY EAST WITH AROUND AN INCH POSSIBLE. ONCE THIS WAVE PIVOTS THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... TEMPS BEGIN TO SLOWLY WARM AT 850 MB FROM THE NORTHWEST. SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY SHOULD WEAKEN A BIT... BUT STILL CONTINUE SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY DUE TO FAVORABLE DELTA T/S... LINGERING MOIST CYCLONIC FLOW... AND ADDITIONAL IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW. CLOUD COVER IS TRICKY THROUGH THE PERIOD AS THERE MAY BE A TENDENCY FOR PARTIAL CLEARING AT NIGHT ESPECIALLY IN EASTERN SECTIONS. THIS WOULD OBVIOUSLY CREATE LOW TEMPERATURE CHALLENGES AS WELL. WILL STICK CLOSE TO MOS FOR NOW. MODELS DIFFERENCES REMAIN QUITE LARGE IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD AND THE ONLY DAY WHERE CONFIDENCE IS HIGH IS TUESDAY. AFTER LINGERING FOR SEVERAL DAYS...UPPER LOW SHOULD FINALLY BE KICKED OUT WITH SHORTWAVE RIDGING IN THE NORTHERN BRANCH FOLLOWING IN ITS WAKE. ASSOCIATED SURFACE RIDGING SHOULD SUPPLY A DECENT DAY. MODELS SUGGEST THAT THE LARGE SCALE PATTERN WILL BE GRADUALLY PHASING AND TRANSITIONING INTO A BROAD LONGWAVE TROUGH COVERING THE UNITED STATES BY NEXT WEEKEND. PRIOR TO THAT HOWEVER IT APPEARS OUR WEATHER WILL STILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE PROGRESSIVE NORTHERN BRANCH OF THE JET... WHICH SHOULD BE SENDING A FAIRLY POTENT SHORTWAVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES REGION ABOUT WEDNESDAY. THIS WAVE WILL BE COMPETING FOR MOISTURE FROM THE WAVE PASSING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN STREAM... BUT STILL OFFERS A CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW SHOWERS. WILL GO WITH A DRY FCST ON FRIDAY AS THE LARGE SCALE TROUGH BEGINS DIGGING OUT TO THE WEST AND INDUCING SOME RIDGING DOWNSTREAM. WARM ADVECTION PCPN EXPECTED TO BE RETURNING TO THE AREA SATURDAY AS TROUGH STARTS SHIFTING EAST. .GRR...NONE. MEADE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Ottawa
- When
- March 24, 5:00 PM EST to March 26, 7:00 AM EST
- Where
- Ottawa forecast zone
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 43.003, -86.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Allegan
- When
- March 24, 5:00 PM EST to March 26, 7:00 AM EST
- Where
- Allegan forecast zone
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 42.518, -85.910 (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
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 24, 2001
- Blizzard and Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 24 to 27, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, March 24 to 25, 2001
- Flood in Puerto Rico, March 24, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 24 to 25, 2001
- Hail in Louisiana, March 24, 2001
- Flood in Hawaii, March 24 to 25, 2001
- Flood in Hawaii, March 24 to 25, 2001
More
Every storm in Michigan in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, March 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: 5234220, 5234221, 5234222.