Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 30 to 31, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 30 to 31, 2004
Start: 2004-01-30T17:00
End: 2004-01-31T14:00
Location: Michigan

January 30 to 31, 2004 · NWS APX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Another round of heavy lake effect snow, as cold northwest winds crossed the upper Great Lakes. This was the last heavy snow event of a very snowy January.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 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 APX wrote it up.

Another round of heavy lake effect snow, as cold northwest winds crossed the upper Great Lakes. Another 6 to 12 inches of snow fell in the snowbelts, with isolated amounts as high as 18 inches near Bellaire.This was the last heavy snow event of a very snowy January. Several sites in Northern Michigan set all-time monthly snowfall records. Gaylord was one of them, where around 74 inches of snow fell during the month, exceeding the old record 68 inches in November of 1893.

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 Gaylord, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 3:35 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 3:35 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 30, 4:05 PM EST, 55 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Antrim

When: January 30, 5:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Antrim forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.007, -85.176 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Charlevoix

When: January 30, 5:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Charlevoix forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN

Heavy Snow, Otsego

When: January 30, 5:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Otsego forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.021, -84.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Chippewa

When: January 30, 5:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Chippewa forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Crawford

When: January 30, 6:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 44.684, -84.610 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kalkaska

When: January 30, 6:00 PM EST to January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Kalkaska forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.685, -85.090 (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

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5382745, 5382746, 5382749, 5382750, 5382747, 5382748.