A short wave trough, associated with an arctic frontal boundary, moved through southern Lower Michigan during the late evening of the 11th. As this system moved across the region, it brought one to three inches of snowfall to eastern Michigan, with the exception of 4 to 5 inches along the Interstate 69 corridor from Owosso to Port Huron.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS DTX wrote it up.
A short wave trough, associated with an arctic frontal boundary, moved through southern Lower Michigan during the late evening of the 11th. As this system moved across the region, it brought one to three inches of snowfall to eastern Michigan, with the exception of 4 to 5 inches along the Interstate 69 corridor from Owosso to Port Huron. High winds followed in the wake of the snowfall and even led to a brief period (one to two hours) of blizzard conditions. The poor driving conditions resulted in dozens of automobile accidents across the region, including a six-car pileup on Interstate 94 in Macomb County. Ten injuries (indirect) were reported as a result of the traffic accidents.
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 Feb 11, 7:51 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
751 PM EST TUE FEB 11 2003
HAVE EXPANDED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO THE NORTH ONE TIER /FNT/
BASED ON RADAR TRENDS FROM KGRR AND LATEST RUC MODEL. IN ADDITION
HAVE INCREASED SNOWFALL TOTALS IN THE M 59 CORRIDOR TO 3 TO 5
INCHES. THIS BASED ON EXPECTATION OF BEST FGEN FORCING TO CROSS THIS
REGION AND REPORT OF 5 INCHES OF SNOW IN MKE BETWEEN 5 AND 7 PM EST.
WILL POST 2 TO 4 INCH TOTALS FOR REMAINDER OF THE ADVISORY AREA. IN
THE SAGINAW VALLEY EXPECT 1 TO 2 INCHES.
.DTX...GALE WARNING...LAKES HURON AND ST CLAIR...TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIZ060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083
OKEEFE
EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE)MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-121100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 740 PM EST TUE FEB 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN... ROUGHLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 69. AN INCREASING SNOW BAND IN WESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD INTO SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN DURING THE EVENING BRINGING A BRIEF BUT INTENSE PERIOD OF SNOWFALL TO PORTIONS OF THE REGION. ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED IN A BAND BETWEEN INTERSTATE 69 AND INTERSTATE 96... LARGELY IN PARTS OF LIVINGSTON... OAKLAND... MACOMB... AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES. SOUTH OF THERE... EXPECT 2 TO 4 INCH ACCUMULATIONS... AND TO THE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 69 LOOK FOR 1 TO 3 INCH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OVERNIGHT. IN ADDITION...WINDS WILL FREQUENTLY REACH 25 TO 40 MPH AT TIMES THIS EVENING. AND...IN THE AREAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 96 WINDS COULD EVEN BRIEFLY GUST TO 40 TO 50 MPH. THIS WILL CREATE THE ADDITIONAL HAZARD OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...AND POSSIBLY NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE ISSUED AT 728 PM FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR LAKE HURON AND LAKE ST. CLAIR. PLEASE SEE THE LAKE HURON AND LAKE ST. CLAIR FORECASTS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY GALE WARNING CONTINUES FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING. REFER TO THE LATEST OPEN LAKE FORECAST FOR LAKE HURON IF YOU WANT GREATER DETAIL. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE NEEDED TONIGHT. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST FORECAST ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE) WAG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, February 2003
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: 5340607.