1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Mar 7, 3:27 AM EST, 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 325 AM EST SUN MAR 7 2004 .DISCUSSION... VERY TOUGH FORECAST WITH H2O LOOP EVIDENT OF POTENT WAVE NOW APPROACHING THE WESTERN LAKESHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN. INITIALLY, CLOUD TOPS WERE WARMING BUT WITH THE APPROACH OF THIS WAVE AND HELP FROM DIVERGENCE ALOFT, CLOUD TOPS COOLED AND PRECIP HAS BEGUN. AREA REFLECTIVITIES HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS WITH THE LEADING EDGE OF THE PRECIP ACROSS GRR CWA AS OF 07Z. PRECIP TYPE IS QUITE CHALLENGING WITH MILD TEMPS BEING DRAWN UP IN ADVANCE OF SURFACE LOW AND WET BULB PROCESSES. OVERLAY OF THICKNESSES FROM VARIOUS MODELS TO RADAR AND SURFACE OBS REVEAL THE 1308M LINE IS THE DELIMITER FROM RAIN TO SNOW. WE WILL UTILIZE THIS LINE TODAY. SOME OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER IS THE MARCH SUNSHINE. EVEN WITH CLOUDS WE WERE ABLE TO CLIMB INTO THE 40S. WHETHER WE SUN OR NOT, INSOLATION WILL BE A FACTOR AND ACCUMULATIONS MAY NOT BE THAT MUCH WITH THE EXCEPTION ON GRASSY SURFACES. BUT AT THE MOMENT IT LOOKS LIKE A GOOD BURST OF SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING, TO BE FOLLOWED BY A DRY SLOT WITH SOME DRIZZLE/FREEZING DRIZZLE POTENTIAL THEN A RETURN TO MORE SNOW WITH PASSAGE OF UPPER LOW. TODAY... AN IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM WITH GOOD DYNAMICS, STEEPING LAPSE RATES AND TIGHTENING THERMAL FIELD TO BRING WET CONDITIONS TO THE CWA THIS MORNING. AS MENTIONED, PRECIP TYPE AND AMOUNTS WILL BE VERY CHALLENGING (AND THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING). ON THE CURRENT COURSE AND THICKNESS SCHEME MENTIONED ABOVE, SNOW SHOULD START IN ERNEST TOWARD 6AM FOR THE TRI CITIES AND THUMB WITH BULLSEYE OF OMEGA AND Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE COMING OVERHEAD, COMBINING WITH DIVERGENCE AT 300MB. FURTHER SOUTH, A MIX OF RAIN/SNOW TO JUST MOSTLY RAIN FOR EXTREME SOUTH COUNTIES WHERE 1000-850 THICKNESSES THIS MORNING CLIMB TO BETWEEN 1310-1320M. THEN AS DRY SLOT QUICKLY APPROACHES THIS MORNING, WE SHOULD SEE A PERIOD OF SOME DRIZZLE WITH EXTREME NORTHERN COUNTIES REMAINING A LITTLE COLDER (AND PERHAPS A FRESH SNOW COVER) FOR THE POTENTIAL OF FREEZING DRIZZLE. SO A COMBINATION OF A QUICK BURST OF 1-2 OF SNOW WITH SOME FREEZING DRIZZLE POTENTIAL WE WILL LEAVE UP THE ADVISORY FOR NOW. THUNDER POTENTIAL APPEARS TO BE WANING AS CROSS SECTIONS SHOW NO -EPV AND EQUILIBRIUM LEVELS LOWER FOR THUNDER). NOW WITH THIS DRY SLOT, SOME CONCERN WITH WINDS AS IF WE SEE ANY BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER (WHICH MAY OCCUR PER THE CLEAR SKIES OVER IOWA THIS MORNING FOR SOUTHERN 1/2 CWA), BUFKIT CROSS SECTIONS SUGGEST WE TAP INTO 30-35KT WINDS LATE THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. IT WILL BE CLOSE FOR WIND ADVISORY AS DAY SHIFT WILL NEED TO MONITOR. THEN THE REMNANTS OF UPPER LOW TRACKS SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON BRINGING COLDER TEMPS, DEEPER MOISTURE AND SNOW FROM NORTH TO SOUTH (SOME RAIN HANGING ON ACROSS THE SOUTHERN 1/3RD). TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL BE A TOSS UP WHERE LOWER 40S COULD BE REALIZED CWA-WIDE. WE WILL BE A BIT MORE CONSERVATIVE WITH A BLEND OF THE MET/MAV AND A TOUCH ON THE WARMER SIDE BY 1-2 DEGREES. TONIGHT... UPPER LOW ROTATES SOUTHEAST WITH MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE AND WEAK SYNOPTIC LIFT TO SUPPORT LIKELY POPS FOR SNOW. QPF FIELDS ARE LIGHT AND SO WILL BE THE ACCUMULATIONS WITH GENERALLY LESS THAN AN INCH EXPECTED. WITH DRIER AIR FILTERING SOUTH AND SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE DEPARTING WAVE, WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THE CHANCE OF LINGERING LIGHT SNOW OVERNIGHT. MONDAY... ANOTHER DAY OF TRANSITION WITH DOMINANT NORTHWEST FLOW AND YET ANOTHER WAVE COMING DOWN. NARROW SURFACE RIDGE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES BUT MOISTURE REMAINS IN PLACE AROUND 925MB. THEREFORE, MOCLOUDY SKIES AND WITH COOLER THICKNESSES, WE WILL DROP TEMPS A COUPLE DEGREES TO MID 30S. MONDAY NIGHT... TRENDS IN THE MODELS FAVOR A FURTHER WEST TRACK WITH NEXT CLIPPER WHICH LEAVES US ON THE EASTERN EDGE. WE WILL LEAVE IN THE CHANCE BUT TAPER BACK POP GRIDS WITH HIGHEST FOR THE WEST AND LOWEST EAST. TUESDAY... BUILDING HEIGHTS UPSTREAM AND SURFACE HIGH SLIDING SOUTH, WE SHOULD SEE IMPROVING CONDITIONS. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...TODAY ...MIDLAND/BAY/HURON COUNTIES. && BGM EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE)
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 441 PM EST SAT MAR 6 2004 MIZ047>049-071000- BAY-HURON-MIDLAND- 441 PM EST SAT MAR 6 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR BAY...HURON AND MIDLAND COUNTIES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR SNOW AFTER 4 AM. PLEASE REFER TO THE WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR SNOW SUNDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FOR MORE DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...SPOTTER SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT AND ON SUNDAY. MIZ053>055-071000- SAGINAW-SANILAC-TUSCOLA- 441 PM EST SAT MAR 6 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SAGINAW...SANILAC AND TUSCOLA COUNTIES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP AFTER 4 AM. ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LESS THAN AN INCH. AN APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SNOWFALL. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SNOWFALL WILL ACCUMULATE TO 2 TO 4 INCHES ON SUNDAY. THE SNOWFALL WILL BE DUE TO LOW PRESSURE THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...SPOTTER SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT AND ON SUNDAY. MIZ060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-071000- GENESEE-LAPEER-LENAWEE-LIVINGSTON-MACOMB-MONROE-OAKLAND-SHIAWASSEE- ST. CLAIR-WASHTENAW-WAYNE- 441 PM EST SAT MAR 6 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN WILL DEVELOP AFTER 4 AM. THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE MAINLY SNOW NORTH OF M 59. ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LESS THAN AN INCH. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM IS ALSO POSSIBLE AFTER 4 AM. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. A BRIEF PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN OR SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS. ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS WILL MOVE NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH. AN APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRECIPITATION. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY ON SUNDAY. THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE MAINLY ALL SNOW NORTH OF M 59. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES NORTH OF M 59...TO LESS THAN AN INCH TO THE SOUTH. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THROUGH 10 AM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE STATE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRECIPITATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...SPOTTER SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT AND ON SUNDAY. CONSIDINE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Saginaw river at Saginaw went above its 19 foot flood stage at 345 am EST on the 7th. The river crested at 19.9 feet at 615 am EST on the 8th, then fell back below flood stage at 130 am EST on the 10th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, March 2004
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: 5388810.