Lake effect snow developed behind a synoptic low pressure system which moved through our area on March first. Twelve to as much as fifteen inches of snow fell across portions of Allegan, Ottawa, and western Kent counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 episode as NWS GRR wrote it up.
Lake effect snow developed behind a synoptic low pressure system which moved through our area on March first. Twelve to as much as fifteen inches of snow fell across portions of Allegan, Ottawa, and western Kent counties.
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 Mar 1, 10:41 PM EST, 4 hours 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 1041 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 .UPDATE... LATEST SFC ANALYSIS THIS EVENING SHOWS THE OCCLUDED FRONT STRETCHING FROM NEAR KSBM OVER WI...TO NEAR GRAND HAVEN...AND THEN TO KALAMAZOO. WAVES OF SHOWERS CONTINUE TO OCCUR OVER THE AREA WITH THE LAST AREA OF SHOWERS CURRENTLY JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT. TEMPS OVER MOST OF THE CWFA HAVE RISEN ABOVE FREEZING...WITH SOME LOCATIONS REMAINING AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING IN THE WARNING AREA. CALLS TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT UP NORTH INDICATE THAT SOME OF THESE SHOWERS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO A LITTLE ADDITIONAL ICE ACCUMULATION. WITH THIS IN MIND...WE ARE HESITANT TO DROP THE WARNING EARLY AND WILL MAINTAIN IT THROUGH THE EXPIRATION OF 06Z. AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE CWFA THE REST OF THIS EVENING AND DURING THE EARLY OVERNIGHT HOURS...DEEP MOISTURE WILL BE STRIPPED AWAY AS THE DRY SLOT MOVES IN AND THE -10C ISOTHERM WILL BECOME UNSATURATED FOR A SHORT PERIOD. THIS MAY LEAD TO A LITTLE PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE AS TEMPS FALL BACK TO AROUND OR BELOW FREEZING. THIS SHOULD NOT BE SIGNIFICANT. AS THE WRAP AROUND MOISTURE ROTATES IN AROUND THE UPPER LOW...MOISTURE WILL BECOME DEEP AGAIN AND SNOW SHOULD DEVELOP. THIS LOOKS TO HAPPEN LATE TONIGHT AND THIS SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE WRN COUNTIES. WE HAVE SHAVED THE HIGHER POPS/SNOW OFF OF THE ERN COUNTIES FOR LATER TONIGHT. THIS WILL HAPPEN OVER THE EAST TOMORROW MORNING. WITH THE SNOW MOVING IN VERY LATE...THERE WILL BE LITTLE TO NO ACCUMULATION BY THE END OF THE TONIGHT PERIOD. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING NORTHERN TWO ROWS OF THE CWA...ALSO INCLUDING MONTCALM AND GRATIOT THROUGH 1 AM FRI. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE NEARSHORE. && NJJ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 129 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-021830- MASON-LAKE-OSCEOLA-CLARE-OCEANA-NEWAYGO-MECOSTA-ISABELLA-MUSKEGON- MONTCALM-GRATIOT-OTTAWA-KENT-IONIA-CLINTON-ALLEGAN-BARRY-EATON- INGHAM-VAN BUREN-KALAMAZOO-CALHOUN-JACKSON- 129 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM IS LIKELY GENERALLY NORTH OF A WHITEHALL TO SAINT JOHNS LINE...WITH UP TO A HALF INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS...DOWNED TREE LIMBS OR POWER LINES...AND SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES. A MIX OF SLEET AND RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED...WITH EVEN A FEW THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. AROUND INTERSTATE 96...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME OF THIS PRECIPITATION COULD BE MIXED WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN...BUT NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. FARTHER SOUTH NEAR INTERSTATE 94...THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREATS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL COULD ALSO RESULT IN LOCALIZED NUISANCE FLOODING. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO END AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT... THEN ANY LINGERING LIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS THE LOW PRESSURE AREA MOVES SLOWLY EAST WHILE WEAKENING OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE...PARTICULARLY IN THE SNOWBELT AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 131. SNOW SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY ON SUNDAY AND END BY SUNDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED NEAR THE INTERSTATE 94 CORRIDOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ELSEWHERE...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...BUT SNOW...SLEET AND ICING REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. YOU CAN SUBMIT THESE REPORTS AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GRR/SPOTTER. LMZ844>849-021830- ST JOSEPH TO SOUTH HAVEN-SOUTH HAVEN TO HOLLAND- HOLLAND TO GRAND HAVEN-GRAND HAVEN TO WHITEHALL- WHITEHALL TO PENTWATER-PENTWATER TO MANISTEE- 129 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WAVES OF 4 FEET OR MORE AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL POSE A HAZARD TO SMALL CRAFT TODAY AND TONIGHT. SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR NORTH OF MUSKEGON... BEGINNING AS SNOW THIS MORNING. FREEZING RAIN WILL CHANGE TO RAIN SOUTH OF MUSKEGON BY AFTERNOON. THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO END AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT... THEN ANY LINGERING LIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE CAUSE OF THE ACTIVE WEATHER IS A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKING NORTHEAST FROM THE KANSAS CITY MISSOURI AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY LARGE WAVES WILL PERSIST FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SNOW SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY ON SUNDAY AND END SUNDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Up to eleven inches of snow was reported across portions of Oceana county.
Up to twelve inches of snow was reported across portions of Mecosta county.
Up to fifteen inches of snow was reported across portions of Ottawa county.
Up to fourteen inches of snow was reported across portions of western Kent county.
Up to fifteen inches of snow was reported across portions of Allegan county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, March 2007
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: 20483, 20484, 20485, 20486, 20487.