Heavy Snow, Alger
- When
- January 16, 4:00 PM EST to January 17, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Alger forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 46.451, -86.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 16 to 17, 2005
Arctic air combined with the passage of a low pressure trough brought heavy lake effect snow showers into portions of northern Upper Michigan on the night of 16th and morning of the 17th. Poor visibility in heavy snow and blowing snow resulted in school cancellations across the Ontonagon Area School District on the 17th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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.
Arctic air combined with the passage of a low pressure trough brought heavy lake effect snow showers into portions of northern Upper Michigan on the night of 16th and morning of the 17th. Poor visibility in heavy snow and blowing snow resulted in school cancellations across the Ontonagon Area School District on the 17th. A spotter in Rockland reported a 12-hour snowfall amount of 8 inches. Spotters also reported heavy lake effect snow over eastern Alger and Luce counties. Twenty-four hour totals included 13 inches at Two Heart in Luce County and 10 inches near Grand Marais in Alger County.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Luce
- When
- January 16, 4:00 PM EST to January 17, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Luce forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 46.368, -85.509 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Ontonagon
- When
- January 16, 6:00 PM EST to January 17, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Ontonagon forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 46.778, -89.305 (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
- Cold in Michigan, January 16, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 16 to 19, 2005
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, January 16, 2005
- Dense Fog in Nevada, January 16 to 31, 2005
- Winter Storm in Ohio, January 16 to 17, 2005
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 16 to 18, 2005
- Dense Fog in California, January 16 to 31, 2005
More
Every storm in Michigan in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, January 2005
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: 5438614, 5438615, 5438613.