Snow changed to freezing rain during the late evening hours of February 13th, resulting in a minor ice storm which resulted in approximately three tenths to four tenths of an inch of ice accumulation which brought down some trees and power lines.
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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 GRR wrote it up.
Snow changed to freezing rain during the late evening hours of February 13th, resulting in a minor ice storm which resulted in approximately three tenths to four tenths of an inch of ice accumulation which brought down some trees and power lines.
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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 13, 4:15 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 415 PM EST SUN FEB 13 2005 .SHORT TERM... MAIN CHALLENGE IS FREEZING RAIN/MIXED PCPN EVENT FOR TONIGHT. POTENT H5 SHORTWAVE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL BECOME NEGATIVELY TILTED AS IT LIFTS NE TONIGHT. AT THE SURFACE A 996 MB LOW NEAR KANSAS CITY WILL DEEPEN SLIGHTLY AS IT MOVES TO CENTRAL LAKE MICHIGAN BY 12Z MONDAY AND TO FAR NRN LWR MI BY 18Z. A 50-60 KT H8 JET WILL DRIVE A VERY MOIST AIR MASS NORTH FROM THE GULF... WITH ONE INCH PRECIPITABLE WATERS REACHING INTO SRN LWR MI. EXPECT A STRONG SURGE OF WAA/ISENTROPIC LIFT PCPN TONIGHT NORTH OF THE APPROACHING WARM FRONT THEN MORE DPVA RELATED PCPN MONDAY MORNING WITH THE UPPER SYSTEM. PROBLEM TONIGHT IS PCPN TYPES. LOW LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW HAS DRIVEN THE SURFACE DEW POINTS DOWN INTO THE UPPER TEENS TO MID 20S AND THE LEADING EDGE OF THE PCPN IS NOW ADVANCING INTO THIS AIR MASS. HAK. MID LEVEL DRY SLOT WILL SHUT OFF SIGNIFICANT PCPN BY 18Z MONDAY... WITH ONLY A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS REMAINING FOR THE AFTERNOON. NEXT CHALLENGE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A QUICK HITTING PCPN EVENT FOR TUESDAY. STRONG FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING DEVELOPS OVER SW MI NORTH OF THE MAIN BAROCLINIC ZONE...AS NRN STREAM ENERGY BEGINS DROPPING IN FROM THE NW. THERE IS ALSO A W-E 100-120KT 300 MB JET THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS WHICH GIVES SW MI SOME LEFT FRONT EXIT REGION JET DYNAMICS. THICKNESSES SUPPORT MAINLY RAIN TO START THE DAY IN THE SRN CWFA... BUT THEN ENOUGH COOLING TAKES PLACE IN THE AFTERNOON TO SUPPORT SNOW. COULD BE AN INCH OR TWO OF ACCUMULATION FROM THIS EVENT. LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD DEVELOP TOWARD WEDNESDAY AS NRN STREAM CONTINUES TO DIG IN AND H8 TEMPS COOL BELOW -10C. ATTM MOISTURE DOES NOT LOOK PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIV THE H5 TROUGH IN PLACE AND WITH 850 MB TEMPS DOWN AROUND -16 C. A FEW SNOW SHOWERS COULD LINGER INTO THURSDAY, BUT CHANCES FOR LIGHT SNOW WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE DAY AS THE H5 TROF SHIFTS EAST AND 850 MB TEMPS MODERATE. A CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL PULL A COLD FRONT THROUGH OUR AREA FRIDAY, BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS (MAINLY NORTH). THE AIR MASS BEHIND THIS SYSTEM REALLY WONT BE MUCH COLDER. GFS PROGGED 850 MB TEMPS APPEAR MARGINAL AT BEST FOR SCATTERED LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. BOTTOM LINE... TEMPS WILL AVG PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL THROUGH THE EXTENDED FCST PERIOD WITH A FEW CHANCES FOR LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS AND FLURRIES (BEST CHANCE FOR LIGHT SNOW WILL COME WEDNESDAY NIGHT). && .GRR...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY 6 PM TO MIDNIGHT FOR CLINTON EATON INGHAM IONIA KENT MUSKEGON OTTAWA COUNTIES. FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY 6 PM TO 6 AM FOR CLARE GRATIOT ISABELLA LAKE MASON MECOSTA MONTCALM NEWAYGO OCEANA OSCEOLA COUNTIES. && MEADE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 605 PM EST SUN FEB 13 2005 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-141106- ALLEGAN-BARRY-CALHOUN-CLARE-CLINTON-EATON-GRATIOT-INGHAM-IONIA- ISABELLA-JACKSON-KALAMAZOO-KENT-LAKE-MASON-MECOSTA-MONTCALM-MUSKEGON- NEWAYGO-OCEANA-OSCEOLA-OTTAWA-VAN BUREN- 605 PM EST SUN FEB 13 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A MIXTURE OF SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN IS LIKELY TONIGHT MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 96. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TENTH TO ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION CHANGES TO ALL RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. ICE JAMS STILL PERSIST ON SOME RIVERS AND SOME SMALL FLUCTUATIONS IN RIVER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SOME LIGHT SNOW IS POSSIBLE TUESDAY WITH LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. ICE JAMS WILL PERSIST ON SOME RIVERS AND SOME SMALL FLUCTUATIONS IN RIVER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. LAURENS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, February 2005
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: 5437179, 5437180, 5437181, 5442374, 5442375.