Winter Storm in Michigan, January 26 to 28, 2004

Name: Winter Storm in Michigan, January 26 to 28, 2004
Start: 2004-01-26T19:00
End: 2004-01-28T07:00
Location: Michigan

January 26 to 28, 2004 · NWS DTX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

A strong storm system lifted from the southern Plains and moved through southeast Michigan on Tuesday January 27th. Areas of snow developed across the region Monday evening.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

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 DTX wrote it up.

A strong storm system lifted from the southern Plains and moved through southeast Michigan on Tuesday January 27th. Areas of snow developed across the region Monday evening. The snow was mixed with sleet, especially form M59 south. An inch or two of snow was reported in scattered locations from M59 north. This precipitation was replaced by widespread freezing drizzle overnight, with an 1/8 of an inch of ice reported in some locations from I 69 south. By Tuesday morning, the surface low tracking from Ohio moved into far southeast Michigan. Heavy freezing rain and sleet crossed the Michigan border shortly after 6 am EST. This precipitation changed to all snow during the morning, with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches per hour common, with even a couple reports of thunder. A dry slot moved into Southeast Michigan during the afternoon hours, before snow picked up again late in the day and continued into the early morning hours of Wednesday. By the time the snow ended Wednesday morning, total snowfall accumulations ranged from 5 to 10 inches. Here are a few specific snowfall totals from the storm (in inches): 10.5 in Sebewaing (Huron county), 9.2 in Otisville (Genesee county), 8.0 in Vassar (Tuscola county) and Linwood (Bay county), 7.5 in Brighton (Livingston), 7.0 in Sandusky (Sanilac county) and Chelsea (Washtenaw county), 6.7 in Owosso (Shiawassee), 6.1 in White Lake (Oakland county), 6.0 in Midland (Midland county) and Saginaw (Saginaw 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 Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 26, 2:25 PM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 2:25 PM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
225 PM EST MON JAN 26 2004

.DISCUSSION...
KDTX 88D CONTINUES TO SHOW A SLOW BUT STEADY INCREASE IN PRECIP
COVERAGE ACROSS SE MI. WAVES OF PRECIP SOUTH OF DTW DEFINITELY
HAVE A CONVECTIVE APPEARANCE...AND SHOULD MOSTLY BE IN THE FORM
OF SLEET. FURTHER NORTH...A WIDER AREA OF LIGHT SN...MIX W/ SOME
SLEET STRETCHES FROM THE THUMB INTO SAGINAW/GENESEE VALLEY. THIS
PRECIP THANKS TO GENERAL LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH LEAD WAVE LIFTING
OUT IN FRONT OF MAIN STORM SYSTEM WHICH IS NOW ORGANIZING OVER
OKLAHOMA.

MAIN PROBLEM AGAIN CENTERS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH HEADLINES...WITH
QUESTIONS REMAINING ON TRANSITIONS BETWEEN PRECIP TYPE OVER THE
NEXT 24 HOURS...AND HOW MUCH ICE/SNOW WILL OCCUR IN ANY GIVEN
PLACE THRU CWA. MODELS HAVE TRENDED JUST A BIT FURTHER WEST W/
THE TRACK OF SYSTEM ON TUE...WHICH FOCUSES MORE IP/FZRA THRU
FAR SOUTHEAST MI TONIGHT INTO TUE AM...AND MINIMIZES SNOW AMTS
FROM THIS. ALSO...DRY SLOT IS NOW PROGGED INTO AREA TO VARYING
DEGREES...MORE SO HEADING SE INTO CWA.

PLAN ON PUTTING A WINTER STORM WARNING UP THE WHOLE CWA TONIGHT
INTO TUE EVENING...WITH A NRN SEGMENT FOCUSING MAINLY ON SNOW
AMOUNTS...AND SRN SEGMENT ON A COMBINATION OF ICING EARLY W/
SNOW ON TUE. SEGMENTS TO DIVIDED ROUGHLY ALONG I 69.  DRY SLOT
DEFINITELY HAS ME CONCERNED IN THIS AREA WHERE SOME AMOUNTS MAY
ONLY TOTAL A FEW INCHES ON WHATEVER ICE FALL THRU EARLY TUE AM.
FURTHER NORTH...WITH HAVE A MENTION OF IP AND SPOTTY FZDZ AFTER
MIDNIGHT...BUT MAINLY SNOW. THIS WILL FOCUS 00Z-06Z WITH LIFT
FROM INITIAL WAVE. AS THIS DEEPER LIFT SLIDES NORTH...EXPECT
LIGHTER SN/IP AND FZDZ.

AS CORE OF MAIN SYSTEM TRACKS INTO SE MI ON TUESDAY AM...PRECIP
WILL CHANGE QUICKLY TO SNOW DUE TO COLD AIR ASSOCD WITH THE
SYSTEM AND HELP FROM DYNAMIC COOLING...THIS TRANSITION CENTERED
ON 15Z OR SO. AGAIN...SNOW TOTALS WILL BE MOST IMPRESSIVE HEADING
NORTHWEST INTO CWA...ESP FLINT ON NORTH AND WEST. AREAS NEAR LAKE
HURON WILL ALSO SEE SOME ENHANCEMENT IN SNOWFALL...PROBABLY MOST
NOTICABLE IN SAGINAW VALLEY WITH NORTHEAST FUNNELLING INLAND TUE
AFTN/EVE. STILL EXPECT SNOWFALL IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES THUMB BACK
WEST TO FNT AND MBS...WITH A SHOT AT 10+ IN SOME AREAS FROM BAX
TO MBS.

WILL TAILOR SNOW AMOUNTS STEADILY DOWN HEADING TOWARD METRO
DETROIT/MONROE...WWERE TOTALS IN THE 2-4 INCH AREA SEEM MORE
REASONABLE GIVEN LIMITING FACTOR OF MORE ICE/MORE DRY SLOT.
STILL...ICING COULD BE RATHER SIGNIFIANT EARLY TUE AM.

COLD/UNSETTLED PATTERN REMAINS IN PLACE REST OF THE WEEK INTO
EARLY NEXT WEEK. SEVERAL CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEMS ARE STILL
PROGGED TO BRING ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO AREA. ATT...BEST BET
APPEARS THU NIGHT AND THEN AGAIN ON SAT/SAT NIGHT...ALTHO THE
AGREEMENT ON THIS 2ND SYSTEM IS FAR LESS ENCOURAGING. SEE
LITTLE HOPE OF SIGNIFICANT WARMING INTO NEXT WEEK. WILL CONT
THE WINTRY FCST THRU THIS PACKAGE. MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO
THE TIMING OF BEST SNOW CHCS...AND ALSO A FEW TWEEKS TO THE
TEMPERATURES...BUT THAT/S ABOUT IT.

&&

.DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING 00Z
TONIGHT TO 06Z TUE EVENING ENTIRE CWA AND GALE WARNING LAKE
HURON TONIGHT.

&&

GURNEY

EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX  (ALL LOWER CASE)

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 26, 5:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
530 PM EST MON JAN 26 2004

MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-271200-
BAY-GENESEE-HURON-LAPEER-LENAWEE-LIVINGSTON-MACOMB-MIDLAND-MONROE-
OAKLAND-SAGINAW-SANILAC-SHIAWASSEE-ST. CLAIR-TUSCOLA-WASHTENAW-WAYNE-
530 PM EST MON JAN 26 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING.
PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FOR MORE
DETAILS.

A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR LAKE HURON. PLEASE REFER TO THE
LATEST LAKE HURON FORECAST FOR MORE DETAILS.

.DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING.
PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FOR MORE
DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. HOWEVER SPOTTER REPORTS OF
SNOWFALL...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN ARE WELCOME.

SF

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Bay

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Bay forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.721, -83.942 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Midland

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Midland forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.647, -84.388 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Saginaw

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Saginaw forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.335, -84.053 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Huron

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Huron forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.910, -82.855 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Tuscola

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Tuscola forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.491, -83.440 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sanilac

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Sanilac forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.443, -82.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Shiawassee

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Shiawassee forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.954, -84.147 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Genesee

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Genesee forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.022, -83.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lapeer

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Lapeer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.090, -83.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Livingston

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.603, -83.911 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Oakland

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Oakland forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.660, -83.386 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washtenaw

When: January 26, 7:00 PM EST to January 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Washtenaw forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.253, -83.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Michigan in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, January 2004

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: 5381650, 5381651, 5381652, 5381653, 5381654, 5381655, 5381656, 5381657, 5381658, 5381659, 5381660, 5381661.