Fresh snow cover under clear skies and calm wind allowed temperatures to plummet to 20 below zero or colder over various interior locations of Upper Michigan on the morning of the 6th.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 MQT wrote it up.
Fresh snow cover under clear skies and calm wind allowed temperatures to plummet to 20 below zero or colder over various interior locations of Upper Michigan on the morning of the 6th.
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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 5, 4:12 PM EST, 11 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 412 PM EST MON MAR 5 2007 .SYNOPSIS... KMQT 88D IMAGERY SHOWS MULTIBAND LES CONTINUING ACROSS THE CWFA AT THIS TIME. WITH THE BL FLOW FROM AROUND 330 THE LES IS MAINLY IMPACTING THE WESTERN UP AND LOCATIONS EAST OF MARQUETTE. INTENSITIES ARE GENERALLY LIGHT...ALTHOUGH THE LINGERING GUSTY WINDS ARE RESULTING IN LOCALLY VERY LOW VISIBILITIES DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. LATEST MSAS ANALYSIS SHOWS THE 1040MB SURFACE HIGH OVER MANITOBA SLOWLY SLIDING SOUTHEAST AS THE WESTERN UPPER RIDGE NUDGES EASTWARD. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT)... AS THE SURFACE HIGH BUILDS IN TONIGHT WE WILL SEE THE GRADIENT BEGIN TO SLACKEN AND THE FLOW BECOME MORE ANTICYCLONIC. WINDS SHOULD DECREASE DRAMATICALLY AS WE HEAD THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS...BUT WITH GUSTY WINDS CONTINUING FOR A BIT WILL KEEP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY GOING UNTIL 00Z FOR ALGER...LUCE...AND NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTIES. AS THE GRADIENT SLACKENS FURTHER LATER TONIGHT EXPECT TO SEE DECENT LAND BREEZES DEVELOP...WITH THE VARIOUS HIGH RESOLUTION GUIDANCE ALL SUGGESTING A MID-LAKE CONVERGENCE BAND OVER LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MESO-LOW OFFSHORE OF THE MUNISING AREA AFTER 06Z. WITH THE LAKE CLOUDINESS GENERALLY CONFINED CLOSE TO THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHORE LATER TONIGHT TEMPERATURES OVER INLAND AREAS COULD GET QUITE CHILLY...WITH READINGS OVER THE INTERIOR CENTRAL AND WEST POSSIBLY GETTING DOWN BETWEEN 15 AND 20 BELOW...ESPECIALLY WITH MID-HIGH CLOUDS NOT EXPECTED TO MAKE IT INTO THE AREA UNTIL VERY LATE TONIGHT. .LONG TERM (TUESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE OVERHEAD TO START OFF THIS PERIOD...TUESDAY MORNING. HOWEVER IT WILL QUICKLY SHIFT AND BE OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES BY 00Z WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE POSITIONED ACROSS CENTRAL CANADA...CENTERED OVER NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN AND MANITOBA AT THIS TIME. IN BETWEEN THESE TWO SYSTEMS...UPPER MICHIGAN WILL BE AFFECTED BY A RELATIVELY SMALL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE FOR TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS IS WHEN WE ARE EXPECTING OUR NEXT WAVE OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW...WITH HEAVY LAKE ENHANCED SNOW POSSIBLE DOWNWIND OF LAKE MICHIGAN IN SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY FROM MANISTIQUE TO GERMFASK. THE MAIN ISSUE TO WATCH WILL BE FAVORABLE WIND DIRECTION...REMAINING OVER THIS AREA FOR A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME. MAY NEED AN ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT WITH LATER FORECAST ISSUANCES. WINDS BECOME MORE FAVORABLE...FROM A SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION BEGINNING 21Z TUESDAY THROUGH ROUGHLY THE 03-06Z WEDNESDAY TIME PERIOD. THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MODELS AND PREFERRED WIND DIRECTION AT THIS TIME. THE GFS IS MORE WESTERLY WITH THE WIND...WHILE THE MORE FAVORED NAM WOULD RESULT IN MORE SNOW WITH A SLIGHTLY MORE SOUTHERLY FLOW. THE SURFACE HIGH PREVIOUSLY OVER CENTRAL CANADA WILL SLIDE TO NORTHERN MINNESOTA BY 12Z WEDNESDAY AND THEN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND IOWA BY 00Z THURSDAY...WITH INFLUENCE STRETCHING NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE UPPER PENINSULA AND LAKE SUPERIOR. A PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER IS STILL FIGURED FOR OUR REGION FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THE NEXT SYSTEM WILL COME IN FOR THE END OF THE WORK WEEK...AS THE SURFACE LOW SLIDES TO OUR NORTH...ACROSS CENTRAL ONTARIO. SLOWED DOWN THE ONSET OF 30 POPS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. REMAINDER OF FORECAST (FRI THROUGH MON)...UPPER TROUGH OVER THE NERON U.S. EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL SLOWLY LIFT ENEWD...ALLOWING A SOMEWHAT MORE ZONAL PATTERN TO EVOLVE. THE PROGRESSIVE FLOW WILL PERMIT A COUPLE OF IMPULSES TO PUSH EWD ALONG THE U.S./CANADIAN BORDER. NOT SURPRISING...MODELS ARE NOT EXHIBITING VERY GOOD CONSISTENCY REGARDING TIMING OR STRENGTH OF THESE FEATURES. INITIAL WAVE IS STILL FORECAST TO IMPACT REGION ROUGHLY FRI INTO SAT -- GFS APPEARS TO BE TRENDING STRONGER WITH INITIAL FEATURE. WITH AN EARLY MARCH...SOUTHERLY FLOW/WAA PATTERN EVOLVING...FORECAST WILL INCLUDE A RAIN-SNOW MIX ON FRI. WILL GRADUALLY TRANSITION PRECIP TO JUST SNOW BY LATE SAT AS CAA DEVELOPS ON BACKSIDE OF SYSTEM. WILL TENTATIVELY KEEP FORECAST DRY SUNDAY...BEFORE A RISK OF RAIN ARRIVES MONDAY WITH THE NEXT WAVE (THOUGH MUCH UNCERTAINTY EXISTS REGARDING TIMING AND THERMAL STRUCTURE OF THIS FEATURE). HIGHS IN THE 30S EARLY IN THE PERIOD (NEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS) WILL GRADUALLY MODERATE INTO THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S BY MONDAY. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING MIZ006-007-085. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON FOR MIZ014. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING EAST HALF LAKE SUPERIOR THROUGH THIS EVENING. && .SHORT TERM...TM/JLL .LONG TERM...KF/SMITH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 402 PM EST MON MAR 5 2007 MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-061300- KEWEENAW-ONTONAGON-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-BARAGA-MARQUETTE-ALGER-LUCE- GOGEBIC-IRON-DICKINSON-MENOMINEE-DELTA-SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- SOUTHERN HOUGHTON-NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- 402 PM EST MON MAR 5 2007 /302 PM CST MON MAR 5 2007/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR A WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW OVER WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. DURING THIS TIME...HEAVY LAKE ENHANCED SNOW MAY OCCUR DOWNWIND OF LAKE MICHIGAN IN SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY FROM MANISTIQUE TO GERMFASK...MAINLY FROM LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE PRODUCTS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REGARDING THIS STORM...AS LAKE EFFECT ADVISORIES OR WARNINGS MAY BE NEEDED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LSZ221-241>248-263-264-061300- KEWEENAW BAY AND HURON BAY FROM LOWER ENTRANCE LIGHT TO PORTAGE LAKE TO HURON ISLANDS MI-SAXON HARBOR WI TO ONTONAGON MI- ONTONAGON TO UPPER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL MI- UPPER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL TO MANITOU ISLAND MI- MANITOU ISLAND TO LOWER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL MI- HURON ISLANDS TO MARQUETTE MI-MARQUETTE TO MUNISING MI- MUNISING TO GRAND MARAIS MI-GRAND MARAIS TO WHITEFISH POINT MI- LAKE SUPERIOR, EAST OF A LINE FROM SAXON HARBOR WI TO GRAND PORTAGE, MN, TO A LINE NORTHWARD FROM MANITOU IS. MI, BEYOND 5 NM AND SOUTH OF THE US/CANADIAN BORDER- LAKE SUPERIOR, EAST OF A LINE FROM MANITOU IS. MI NORTHWARD BEYOND 5 NM AND SOUTH OF THE US/CANADIAN BORDER, EXCLUDING WHITEFISH BAY- 402 PM EST MON MAR 5 2007 /302 PM CST MON MAR 5 2007/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR...CENTRAL LAKE SUPERIOR AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WILL ACCUMULATE ON EXPOSED SURFACES ON AND NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ221-248-262-061300- BAY OF GREEN BAY NORTH OF LINE FROM CEDAR RIVER MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE-SEUL CHOIX POINT TO POINT DETOUR MI- LAKE MICHIGAN...FROM SEUL CHOIX POINT TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE...SOUTHEASTWARD BEYOND 5 NM OFF SHORE TO THE MID- LINE OF THE LAKE- 402 PM EST MON MAR 5 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. KF
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
The mininum temperature plummeted to 28 degrees below zero at Herman on the morning of the 6th.
The Stonington RAWS observing site reported a minimum temperature of 22 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
The Mohawk observer reported a minimum temperature of 22 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
The Champion observer reported a minimum temperature of 31 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
A spotter south of Kenton reported a minimum temperature of 22 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
The Randville RAWS observing site reported a minimum temperature of 23 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
The Amasa observer reported a minimum temperature of 25 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th.
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: 23244, 23258, 23261, 23262, 23263, 23257, 23260.