A clipper low pressure system tracking across the area spread moderate snow over northern Houghton County on the 25th.
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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 MQT wrote it up.
A clipper low pressure system tracking across the area spread moderate snow over northern Houghton County on the 25th.
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 23, 7:00 PM EST, 5 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 800 PM EDT SUN MAR 23 2008 UPDATED FOR 00Z AVIATION DISCUSSION .SHORT TERM(TONIGHT AND MONDAY)... THE LATEST MSAS ANALYSIS SUGGESTS RIDGING ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR...EXTENDING FROM THE MAIN SFC RIDGE ACROSS THE PLAINS. MEANWHILE...A WEAK SHORT WAVE ALOFT IS MOVING SE ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. THE SUBSIDENCE AND NVA MOVING OVER THE LAKE COMBINED WITH THE CONSIDERABLE DRY ADVECTION /SFC DWPTS IN NW ONTARIO WELL BELOW ZERO/ SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISH THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY AS THE WINDS BACK TO THE NORTHWEST. HOWEVER DUE TO THE UPSLOPE COMPONENT EARLY THIS EVENING COMBINED WITH LOW LAKE-AIR STABILITY /850MB TEMP -16C/...WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY LIKELY POPS IN A SMALL AREA FROM SHOT POINT EAST TO GRAND MARAIS WHERE THE RUC SUGGESTS SOME ENHANCED CONVERGENCE AS THE WINDS BACK AROUND. HOWEVER...ANY ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD HOLD LESS THAN AN INCH. AS THE WINDS BACK AROUND TONIGHT...THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE KEWEENAW PENINUSLA WILL SEE SOME ENHANCEMENT OVERNIGHT. BEST CHANCE FOR THIS TO OCCUR WOULD BE NORTH OF HOUGHTON...AND HAVE OPTED TO KEEP CHANCE POPS IN THAT AREA FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT. HOWEVER...WITH THE COMBINATION OF DRY AIR AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT THERE WILL BE MUCH ORGANIZATION TO THE ACTIVITY. OTHERWISE...IT SHOULD BE A FAIRLY QUIET BUT COLD NIGHT ACROSS UPPER MICHIGAN. WITH LIGHT WINDS AND A FRESH SNOW COVER IN SOME PLACES...AM THINKING THAT SOME INLAND AREAS WILL SEE TEMPS DROP TO ZERO TO 5 ABOVE TONIGHT. IF IT CAN CLEAR OUT FASTER THAN FORECAST TEMPS COULD DROP MORE THAN THAT. MONDAY SHOULD BE A QUIET DAY BEFORE THE NEXT CLIPPER SYSTEM MONDAY NIGHT/TUE MORNING. WITH THE W-SW FLOW...CANNOT RULE OUT A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS NORTH OF HOUGHTON ALTHOUGH 850MB TEMPS WILL BE MARGINAL /ONLY AROUND -9C/ AND SYNOPTIC SCALE SUBSIDENCE WILL BE STRONG. NONETHELESS...WILL CARRY A SMALL POP THROUGH THE DAY IN THIS REGION. WILL SEE SOME INCREASING CLOUDS /ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN/ IN THE WARM ADVECTION AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM AND SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR SOME DOWNSLOPE WARMING. MANY PLACES WILL BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY ON MONDAY SO IT SHOULD BE PLEASANT ALTHOUGH A LITTLE CHILLY WITH HIGHS 30-35. && .LONG TERM (MON NGT THRU SUN)... FOCUS FOR MON NIGHT-TUE TURNS TO TIMING/IMPACT OF CLIPPER SHRTWV MOVING ESE FM SCNTRL CAN. PER NCEP GUIDANCE. MODELS NOW IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH TIMING OF ASSOC SFC LOW WHICH IS PROGGED TO TRACK ACROSS NE MN AND NRN LAKE SUPERIOR TUE MORNING AND THEN MOVES NE OF LAKE SUPERIOR TUE AFTERNOON. MODELS STILL ADVERTISING FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE UPR DIV IN LEFT EXIT REGION OF SUPPORTING 120+ KT H3 JET MAX ALONG WITH IMPRESSIVE DPVA AND VIGOROUS 850-500 MB Q-VECT CONV. SHARP ISENTROPIC ASCENT ON 285-290K SFCS NOTED MON NIGHT IN ADVANCE OF THE SHORTWAVE...TRANSITIONING TO DESCENT BEHIND THE SHORTWAVE OVER WRN HALF COUNTIES BY 12Z TUE. IN GENERAL...THE TRACK OF THE LOW FAVORS THE NCNTRL AND ERN COUNTIES FOR THE HEAVIER/MORE SUSTAINED PCPN AND QPF FIELDS GENERALLY BARE THIS OUT. THE ONE THING THAT MAY LIMIT PCPN/SNOW AMOUNTS IS FAIRLY RAPID MOVEMENT OF SHORTWAVE/SFC LOW. STILL WITHMIXING RATIOS OF 3G/KG ADVECTING OVER THE AREA AND 6HR OF MORE WINDOW OF FAVORABLE ISENTROPIC ASCENT THE FAR ERN PORTION OF THE CWA MAY PUSH ADVISORY TOTALS WITH 3 INCHES OF MORE OF SNOW POSSIBLE MON NIGHT AND ANY ADDITIONAL SNOW ON TUE MORNING ALONG FRONTAL PASSAGE AND WRAPAROUND MOIST CYCLONIC FLOW IN WAKE OF THE LOW. WOULD EXPECT THE REST OF THE CWA THE GENERALLY FALL IN THE 2-4 RANGE FOR TOTAL SNOWFALL FROM THE SYSTEM. EXPECT PCPN TO GENERALLY DIMINISH BY TUE AFTN BEFORE ANOTHER SHORTWAVE RETURNS TUE EVENING AND BRINGS A REINFORCING COLD SHOT AND CHC OF ENHANCEMENT TO LES. LOOKS LIKE BULK OF PCPN WL FALL AS SN... BUT WITH SOME SUNSHINE POSSIBLE FOR SCNTRL AREAS IN DOWNSLOPING NW FLOW LLVLS MAY WARM ENOUGH TO MIX SNOW WITH SOME RAIN. ANOTHER CONCERN FOR TUE AFTN/EVENING WL BE WINDS ESPECIALLY FOR DOWNSLOPING AREAS OVER THE SRN TIER AND OVER THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA. GFS FCST SDNGS FOR MNM AND ESC SHOWS 35-40 KT WINDS WITHIN THE MIXED LYR AT BOTH MNM AND ESC. WINDS OVER THE KEWEENAW COULD REACH 30 KT BY TUE EVENING AS SECONDARY COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH. IN THE WAKE OF TUE CLIPPER...EXPECT LES TO BE ONGOING TUE NGT INTO WED WITH 850 MB TEMPS OF -16 TO -18C MOVING OVER THE LAKE. HI PRES RDG AXIS WILL THEN MOVES OVHD WED NIGHT AND SHUT OFF THE LES. STILL PLENTY OF MODEL UNCERTAINTY WITH DEVELOPING STORM OVER THE PLAINS BY THU/FRI. HOWEVER...NCEP FAVORED BLEND OF 00Z GFS SOLN AND ENSEMBLE MEAN WHICH NOW TAKES LOW PRESSURE OVER LOWER GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY THU NIGHT AND FRI. ECMWF HAS BEEN EVEN FARTHER E WITH THIS SYSTEM THE LAST FEW RUNS. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR UPR MI IS THAT HEAVIER PCPN WILL LIKELY STAY SOUTH AND EAST OF THE CWA. BEST CHCS FOR PCPN THU NIGHT AND EARLY FRI WILL BE SCNTRL AND EAST WHERE I HAVE INCLUDED HIGH CHC POPS. ALSO WITH MORE SOUTHWARD TRACK...IT LOOKS LIKE PCPN TYPE WILL STAY ALL SNOW SO DECIDED TO TAKE OUT MIX WITH LIQUID/FREEZING PCPN FROM PREV FCST. BIG DIFFERENCE IN 850 MB TEMPS IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM FRI NIGHT INTO SAT. ECMWF MUCH WARMER THAN MORE AMPLIFIED SOLN OF GFS WHICH MORE COLD AIR SOUTHWARD BEHIND THE LOW. LEANED A BIT MORE TOWARD GFS TEMPS AND KEPT LOW CHC POPS FOR LES GOING INTO THE WEEKEND IN AREAS FAVORED BY WNW FLOW. && .AVIATION (FOR THE 00Z TAF ISSUANCE)... EXPECT THE WINDS TO BECOME NW THIS EVENING THEN SW BY MON MORNING. THE BACKING WINDS COMBINED WITH SUBSIDENCE FROM THE HIGH ACROSS THE AREA SHOULD LEAVE MAINLY CLEAR SKIES AT KSAW. AT KCMX MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL. HOWEVER...THERE IS THEPOTENTIAL FOR MVFR CIGS WITH LAKE CLOUDS AND SOME FLURRIES AGAIN AFTER 06Z TONIGHT AS THE WINDS BACK TO THE WSW RESULTING IN A LONGER FETCH ACROSS WRN LAKE SUPERIOR. && .MARINE (FOR 4 PM ISSUANCE)... AS HIGH PRES BUILDS ACROSS THE LAKE THIS EVENING...WINDS AND WAVES SHOULD RELAX QUITE RAPIDLY. HOWEVER...AS THE NEXT CLIPPER SYSTEM APPROACHES ON MONDAY AND ESPECIALLY MONDAY NIGHT...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15-25 KT MON AFTN AND TO GALES MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUE. BEST CHANCE FOR GALES WILL BE ACROSS THE EASTERN 1/3 OF LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE NEARSHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN. AS THE CLIPPER PASSES BY TUE INTO TUE GALES OR NEAR GALES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUE EVENING. W-NW WINDS NEAR 30 KT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WED EVENING BEFORE HIGH PRES BUILDS ACROSS THE LAKE. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SYNOPSIS/SHORT TERM...MRD LONG TERM...VOSS AVIATION...JLB MARINE...MRD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 410 PM EDT SUN MAR 23 2008 MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-242015- KEWEENAW-ONTONAGON-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-BARAGA-MARQUETTE-ALGER-LUCE- GOGEBIC-IRON-DICKINSON-MENOMINEE-DELTA-SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- SOUTHERN HOUGHTON-NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- 410 PM EDT SUN MAR 23 2008 /310 PM CDT SUN MAR 23 2008/ 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS UPPER MICHIGAN MONDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY AS A CLIPPER SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE UPPER GREAT LAKES. MUCH OF THE REGION WILL SEE 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...WITH THE GREATEST SNOWFALL OVER THE EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LSZ162-240>251-263>267-242015- LAKE SUPERIOR WEST OF A LINE FROM SAXON HARBOR WI TO GRAND PORTAGE MN BEYOND 5NM-SAXON HARBOR WI TO BLACK RIVER MI- BLACK RIVER TO ONTONAGON MI- ONTONAGON TO UPPER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL MI- UPPER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL TO EAGLE RIVER MI- EAGLE RIVER TO MANITOU ISLAND MI- MANITOU ISLAND TO POINT ISABELLE MI- POINT ISABELLE TO LOWER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL MI- LOWER ENTRANCE OF PORTAGE CANAL TO HURON ISLANDS MI INCLUDING KEWEENAW AND HURON BAYS-HURON ISLANDS TO MARQUETTE MI- MARQUETTE TO MUNISING MI-MUNISING TO GRAND MARAIS MI- GRAND MARAIS TO WHITEFISH POINT MI- LAKE SUPERIOR FROM SAXON HARBOR WI TO UPPER ENTRANCE TO PORTAGE CANAL MI 5NM OFF SHORE TO THE US/CANADIAN BORDER INCLUDING ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK- LAKE SUPERIOR FROM UPPER ENTRANCE TO PORTAGE CANAL TO MANITOU ISLAND MI 5NM OFF SHORE TO THE US/CANADIAN BORDER- LAKE SUPERIOR WEST OF LINE FROM MANITOU ISLAND TO MARQUETTE MI BEYOND 5NM FROM SHORE- LAKE SUPERIOR EAST OF A LINE FROM MANITOU ISLAND TO MARQUETTE MI AND WEST OF A LINE FROM GRAND MARAIS MI TO THE US/CANADIAN BORDER BEYOND 5NM FROM SHORE- LAKE SUPERIOR FROM GRAND MARAIS MI TO WHITEFISH POINT MI 5NM OFF SHORE TO THE US/CANADIAN BORDER- 410 PM EDT SUN MAR 23 2008 /310 PM CDT SUN MAR 23 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR...CENTRAL LAKE SUPERIOR AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NORTH TO NORTHWEST GALES AND HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY ARE POSSIBLE OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. SEE THE LATEST NEARSHORE AND OPEN WATER MARINE FORECASTS FOR MORE DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ221-248-250-242015- GREEN BAY NORTH OF LINE FROM CEDAR RIVER MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE-SEUL CHOIX POINT TO POINT DETOUR MI- 5NM EAST OF A LINE FROM FAIRPORT MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE- 410 PM EDT SUN MAR 23 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN LAKE LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. MRD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Observers in Houghton and Painesdale measured four inches of snow over a 12-hour period.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, March 2008
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: 90356.