Flooding in Michigan, May 11 to 14, 2003

Name: Flooding in Michigan, May 11 to 14, 2003
Start: 2003-05-11T15:00
End: 2003-05-14T21:00
Location: Michigan

May 11 to 14, 2003 · NWS MQT · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

On May 10th and 11th a deepening low pressure center moved northeast from the plains into eastern Upper Michigan. 88 inches of rain.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: $2.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 MQT wrote it up.

On May 10th and 11th a deepening low pressure center moved northeast from the plains into eastern Upper Michigan. By the time the precipitation ended during the afternoon on 12th, Herman in Baraga Countyhad received an impressive 4.88 inches of rain. Some other rainfall totals included 4.71 inches at Ironwood, 3.79 Inches at Paint Lake in Iron County, 3.62 inches at the Marquette NWS, 3.49 inches at Watton in Baraga county, 3.30 inches at Phoenix in Keweenaw County and at Wakefield in Gogebic County, 2.60 Inches at Hancock, 2.20 inches in the city of Marquette, and.0.94 inch at Munising. This heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding across the western Upper Michigan. A number of roads washed out and closed, including Highway M-28 in Ontonagon County between Bruce Crossing and Bergland and M-26 between Eagle Harbor and Eagle River in Keweenaw County. Flood waters as deep as 3 feet inundated downtown L'Anse as Linden Creek overflowed its banks. Other rivers that flooded include the Sturgeon River, the middle branch of the Ontonagon River, the Black River, the Paint River, the Trap Rock River, the Brule River, the Montreal River, and the Menominee River.

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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 11, 11:17 AM EST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 11:17 AM EST, 3 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1217 PM EDT SUN MAY 11 2003

WATER VAPOR SHOWING A VERY STRONG CYCLONIC SPIN OVER CENTRAL WI WITH
DARKENING ASSOCIATED WITH A DRY SLOT OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF CWA
AND DEFORMATION ZONE AND WRAP AROUND OVER WI AND WESTERN HALF OF
CWA. UPPER AIR PATTERN CONSISTS OF A STRONG CLOSED 500 MB LOW AND
TROUGH OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL U.S. WITH A 500 MB RIDGE OVER THE
EASTERN U.S. AND ROCKIES AND A SHORTWAVE 500 MB TROUGH OVER THE
PACIFIC NW. RUC SHOWING THE500 MB LOW HEADING SLOWLY EAST THIS
AFTERNOON INTO NORTHERN LOWER MI BY THIS EVENING. DRY SLOT WILL
SLOWLY MOVE EAST AND PCPN WILL TEMPORARILY END OVER THE EASTERN CWA
THIS MORNING AS IT ALREADY HAS DONE ACCORDING TO KMQT RADAR. AM
HESITANT TO REALLY FORECAST A BREAK IN PCPN THOUGH AS THERE ARE SOME
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BREAKING OUT AND ROTATING AROUND THE 500
MB LOW IN KGRB CWA AND FEEL THAT AS LOW MOVES EAST...CWA MIGHT FILL
BACK IN WITH DRY SLOT IN AREA. BEEN VERY BUSY AND DO NOT HAVE TIME
FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION. NOT HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT A WHOLE LOT DUE
TO ISSUING LOTS OF PRODUCTS.

.MQT...HIGH WIND WARNING MIZ001-003 THIS AFTN AND TONIGHT.
       HIGH WIND ADVY MIZ004-005 LATE THIS AFTN AND TONIGHT.
       HIGH WIND ADVY MIZ002 THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
       FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT MIZ001>005-009>011-084.
       GALE WARNING LAKE SUPERIOR.

MICHELS

Hazardous weather outlook, May 11, 11:22 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before

MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-121200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1222 PM EDT SUN MAY 11 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL UPPER
MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE EAST OF A LINE FROM
ESCANABA TO GRAND MARAIS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL ARE
POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

FLOODING OF LOW-LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
WEST OF A LINE FROM MARQUETTE TO IRON MOUNTAIN WHERE LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL IS EXPECTED.

GALE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.

A NORTH WIND OF 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH IS
EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OVER WEST UPPER MICHIGAN AND BY LATE
AFTERNOON OVER NORTH CENTRL UPPER MICHIGAN. A NORTH WIND OF 30 TO 40
MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF
NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...PARTICULARLY OVER NORTH
FACING HIGHER TERRAIN AND IN EXPOSED AREAS NEAR THE LAKE SUPERIOR
SHORE. THE HIGHEST WIND GUSTS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ARE
EXPECTED IN THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

GALE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING.

GALE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED INTO MONDAY MORNING IN THE LAKE
MICHIGAN NEARSHORE WATERS FROM SEUL CHOIX POINT TO POINT DETOUR AND
THE BAY OF GREEN BAY NORTH OF A CEDAR RIVER TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE
LINE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT RAINFALL REPORTS
AND WIND REPORTS ARE ENCOURAGED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL:

HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/MQT (ALL LOWER CASE)

MICHELS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Ontonagon

When: May 11, 3:00 PM EST to May 13, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Ontonagon forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 46.778, -89.305 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Gogebic

When: May 11, 5:00 PM CST to May 12, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Gogebic forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 46.496, -89.796 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Keweenaw

When: May 11, 9:00 PM EST to May 12, 9:00 PM EST
Where: Keweenaw forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.283, -88.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Houghton

When: May 11, 10:00 PM EST to May 14, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Houghton forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 46.992, -88.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Baraga

When: May 12, 2:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Baraga forecast zone
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 46.700, -88.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Iron

When: May 12, 5:00 PM CST to May 14, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Iron forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 46.209, -88.530 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Michigan in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, May 2003

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: 5356349, 5356348, 5356352, 5356351, 5356353, 5356350.