Slippery roads from several inches of lake effect snow contributed to numerous car accidents across Gogebic County on the 16th.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Slippery roads from several inches of lake effect snow contributed to numerous car accidents across Gogebic County on the 16th.
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 Dec 16, 5:46 AM CST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 646 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011 UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 12Z TAFS .SYNOPSIS... WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND RUC ANALYSIS SHOW RIDGING INTO WRN CANADA AND A DOWNSTREAM TROF EXTENDING S INTO THE NRN PLAINS/GREAT LAKES. FLOW IS SPLIT WITH A WEAKER SRN STREAM FEATURING A MID LEVEL LOW OVER SRN CA AND A WEAK SHORTWAVE OVER THE SRN PLAINS. A POTENT SHORTWAVE PASSED THRU THE UPPER GREAT LAKES LAST EVENING...BRINGING A BOUT OF STRONG WINDS OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AND LAKE ENHANCED SNOW IN ITS WAKE. WINDS GUSTED TO 58MPH AT GRAND MARAIS AND 61MPH AT STANNARD ROCK. LES HAS NOTABLY DIMINISHED OVER THE LAST FEW HRS AS FAST WNW FLOW IS PUSHING SYSTEMS ALONG QUICKLY. NEXT WEAK SHORTWAVE TROF IS MOVING INTO THE DAKOTAS AND MANITOBA. A MORE IMPORTANT SHORTWAVE IS TOPPING THE WRN CANADA RIDGE OVER NRN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE SRN YUKON. && .DISCUSSION... WEATHER THRU THIS FCST PERIOD WILL BE DOMINATED BY A MEAN RIDGE OF VARYING AMPLITUDE OVER WRN CANADA AND A DOWNSTREAM POLAR VORTEX IN THE VCNTY OF NRN HUDSON BAY/BAFFIN ISLAND. END RESULT SHOULD BE SEVERAL QUICK MOVING NRN STREAM SHORTWAVES WITH VERY LITTLE PCPN OUTSIDE OF AREAS AFFECTED BY SOME LAKE EFFECT/LAKE ENHANCED SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH PASSING WAVES. FLOW ALSO LOOKS TO REMAIN SPLIT WITH SRN STREAM WAVES AND ASSOCIATED PCPN PASSING S OF UPPER MI. OVERALL...IT WILL NOT BE AN ESPECIALLY WINTRY PATTERN HEADING TOWARD THE LATTER PORTION OF DEC AS NORTHERLY POSITION OF POLAR VORTEX LARGELY HOLDS ARCTIC AIR N OF THE AREA. ONLY BRIEF INTRUSIONS OF COLDER AIR WILL OCCUR OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS. FOR TODAY...DESPITE 850MB TEMPS IN THE -14 TO -16C RANGE...ONGOING LES WILL HAVE TO FIGHT DRY AIR/LOW INVERSION. 00Z KINL SOUNDING SHOWED INVERSION BASED AROUND 875MB/4000FT MSL. NAM/GFS FCST SOUNDINGS HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THIS. ALTHOUGH CONVECTION WILL BE SHALLOW...THE DENDRITIC SNOW GROWTH TEMP ZONE WILL BE WITHIN THE CONVECTIVE LAYER. SO...THERE SHOULD BE SOME LIGHT FLUFFY SNOW ACCUMULATION TODAY OF AN INCH...MAYBE TWO...WHERE LES IS MORE PERSISTENT. WEAK SHORTWAVE OVER THE DAKOTAS/MANITOBA WILL HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON LES THIS AFTN/EVENING AS WEAK QVECTOR DIVERGENCE DOMINATES. GFS/NAM HAVE ALSO BACKED OFF ON DEEPENING OF MOISTURE PROFILE WITH PASSING WAVE. LES AFFECTING NW/WNW FLOW FAVORED AREAS TODAY WILL SHIFT TONIGHT AS WINDS BACK SW AHEAD OF STRONGER SHORTWAVE (CURRENTLY OVER NRN BRITISH COLUMBIA/SRN YUKON) DROPPING SE THRU SASKATCHEWAN/MANITOBA. AS SHORTWAVE DROPS SE THRU THE UPPER GREAT LAKES SAT...HEALTHY DEEP LAYER FORCING PER QVECTORS WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA. COMBINED WITH STEEP MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATES UPWARDS OF 7.5C/KM...WAVE MAY BE ABLE TO SQUEEZE OUT A BRIEF PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW AT MOST LOCATIONS. ANY SYNOPTIC SNOW ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE UNDER AN INCH. 850MB TEMPS AROUND -10C WILL SUPPORT SOME LAKE ENHANCEMENT OVER WRN UPPER MI AS WINDS SHIFT FROM SW TO NW. A FEW INCHES OF SNOW CERTAINLY POSSIBLE OVER THE NW SAT AFTN INTO EARLY SAT EVENING. BRIEF ENHANCEMENT WILL SHIFT INTO AREAS E OF KMQT SAT EVENING AS WINDS SHIFT NW. THERE MAY BE SOME LAKE ENHANCEMENT OFF NRN LAKE MICHIGAN INTO THE FAR ERN FCST AREA SAT AFTN IN THE SW FLOW AHEAD OF THE SHORTWAVE. RIGHT NOW...IT APPEARS WINDS WILL HAVE TOO MUCH A WRLY COMPONENT TO OFFER MUCH ENHANCEMENT POTENTIAL FOR SCHOOLCRAFT/LUCE COUNTIES. NW FLOW LES WILL RAPIDLY DIMINISH SAT NIGHT FROM W TO E AS AIRMASS QUICKLY DRIES AND INVERSION CRASHES TO 4KFT OR LOWER. WAA WILL BE UNDERWAY SUN AS NEXT SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS SCNTRL CANADA. ALL GUIDANCE SHOW ASSOCIATED SFC LOW PASSING N OF UPPER MI SUN NIGHT. WAA/ISENTROPIC ASCENT IS STRONG SUN WITH 40+KT WINDS ORIENTED PERPENDICULAR TO TIGHTLY SPACED ISOBARS. HOWEVER..AIRMASS IS VERY DRY AT THE LOWER LEVELS. AT THIS POINT...PLAN TO CARRY A DRY FCST SUN/SUN NIGHT WITH ANY PCPN N OF UPPER MI. SHALLOW MOISTURE DROPPING INTO THE AREA BEHIND COLD FRONT WITH 850MB TEMPS FALLING PERHAPS TO AROUND -12C MAY SUPPORT SOME LIGHT LES/FLURRIES OFF LAKE SUPERIOR MON INTO MON NIGHT. TWO MORE SHORTWAVES WILL PASS ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...TUE AND THU. PCPN CHANCES APPEAR LIMITED...AND AIR MASS MAY NOT EVEN BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT MUCH IF ANY LAKE EFFECT. && .AVIATION /FOR THE 12Z TAF ISSUANCE/... NORTHWEST WINDS FLOWING ACROSS LK SUPERIOR WILL KEEP CHANCES OF LK EFFECT SNOWS ACROSS MUCH OF UPR MICHIGAN. EXPECT IFR CONDITIONS IN THE MORNING AT KCMX AS UPPER WAVE MOVES ACROSS AND ENHANCES ONGOING SNOW SHOWERS. OTHERWISE...OCCASIONAL FLURRIES WITH MVFR CONDITIONS ARE IN FCST AT KIWD AND KSAW. BY TONIGHT...JUST SOME MID CLOUDS WILL BE PUSHING ACROSS THE UPPER LAKES. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS AT ALL THE TAF SITES TONIGHT. && .MARINE /FOR THE 4 AM LAKE SUPERIOR FORECAST ISSUANCE/... STRONG GALE EVENT WITH EVEN SOME STORM FORCE GUSTS HAS WOUND DOWN. WINDS BECOME LESS THAN 20 KTS THROUGH TONIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE SETTLES ACROSS. LIGHT WINDS ARE BRIEF THOUGH AS STRONG AND QUITE CHANGEABLE WINDS ARE THEN EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. SOUTHWEST WINDS INCREASE TO 30 KTS ON SATURDAY AS LOW PRESSURE TROUGH APPROACHES. DESPITE WARM AIR ADVECTION AND HIGHER STABILITY...STRONG PRESSURE FALLS NORTH OF LK SUPERIOR MAY LEAD TO GALE FORCE GUSTS OVR CNTRL LK SUPERIOR BTWN KEWEENAW AND ISLE ROYALE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDS SHIFT NORTHWEST BEHIND TROUGH BUT THE ARRIVAL OF YET ANOTHER TROUGH FM NORTHWEST ON SUNDAY LEADS TO MORE STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. GALES APPEAR POSSIBLE OVR CNTRL LK SUPERIOR ONCE AGAIN. WINDS STAY BTWN 20-30 KTS FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK AS ANOTHER TROUGH IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UPPER MICHIGAN... NONE. LAKE SUPERIOR... NONE. LAKE MICHIGAN... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...ROLFSON DISCUSSION...ROLFSON AVIATION...JLA MARINE...JLA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 502 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011 MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-171300- KEWEENAW-ONTONAGON-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-BARAGA-MARQUETTE-ALGER-LUCE- GOGEBIC-IRON-DICKINSON-MENOMINEE-DELTA-SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- SOUTHERN HOUGHTON-NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- 502 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011 /402 AM CST FRI DEC 16 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. LSZ162-240>251-263>267-171300- 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- 502 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011 /402 AM CST FRI DEC 16 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR...CENTRAL LAKE SUPERIOR AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY GALE FORCE GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND ALSO SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL LAKE SUPERIOR. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. LMZ221-248-250-171300- 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- 502 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. ROLFSON
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
232 AM EST FRI DEC 16 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0230 AM SNOW MUNISING 46.41N 86.65W
12/16/2011 E2.0 INCH ALGER MI LAW ENFORCEMENT
TOTAL SNOWFALL SINCE LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. ROUGH
ESTIMATE DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW. ROADS ARE
SLIPPERY.
&&
JLAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Slippery roads from several inches of lake effect snow contributed to numerous car accidents from Ironwood through Wakefield to Marenisco on the 16th. One two-car accident in Bessemer resulted in injuries to a 44 year-old man.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 2011
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: 358359.