An upper disturbance moving across the Upper Great Lakes produced heavy lake enhanced snow in the Laurium/Calumet area from the 21st into the 22nd.
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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.
An upper disturbance moving across the Upper Great Lakes produced heavy lake enhanced snow in the Laurium/Calumet area from the 21st into the 22nd.
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 Feb 21, 6:56 PM EST, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 656 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 400 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 WV IMAGERY AND RUC ANALYSIS INDICATED A MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER NRN MN WITH A SHORTWAVE TROUGH EXTENDING INTO NW WI. 850-500 MB QVECTOR CONV AND MID LEVEL FGEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHRTWV SUPPORTED A BAND OF SNOW ACROSS CNTRL UPPER MI. SO...FAR ACCUMULATIONS HAVE BEEN LIGHT...GENERALLY LESS THAN AN INCH. AT THE SFC...A 992 MB LOW WAS LOCATED NEAR KINL WITH MOST OF THE SNOW AHEAD OF A TROUGH EXTENDING TO THE SE THROUGH WRN UPPER MI INTO NE WI. ADDITIONAL SNOW OVER NE MN WITH WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE NEAR THE MID LEVEL LOW WAS MOVING BACK INTO NW WI. RADAR TRENDS AND NAM/RUC FCST SUGGEST THAT THE INITIAL SNOWBAND WILL MOVE OUT OF CNTRL UPPER MI INTO THE ERN CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE SNOW AREA OVER MN IS ALSO EXPECTED TO SHIFT INTO WRN UPPER MI THIS EVENING BRINGING POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF AN INCH OR TWO. EVEN THOUGH THE STRONGER SYNOPTIC FORCING IS FCST NEAR KIWD... THE COMBINATION OF CONVERGENT WRLY FLOW AND 850 MB TEMPS DROPPING TO AROUND -8C WILL ALSO RESULT IN SOME LAKE ENHANCED SNOW OVER NW UPPER MI WITH SNOWFALL AMOUNTS INTO THE 1 TO 3 INCH RANGE. AS THE WINDS VEER SLIGHTLY WED...THE LAKE ENHANCED SNOW SHOULD ALSO MOVE INTO LOCATIONS NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR EAST OF MUNISING. THE REMAINING SNOW OVER THE WEST WILL DIMINISH WED AS HIGH PRESSURE AND DRIER AIR MOVE INTO THE AREA BEHIND THE DEPARTING MID LEVEL LOW. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 400 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 THE 500MB LOW CURRENTLY OVER N MN THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE ALONG THE ONTARIO/QUEBEC BORDER TO BEGIN THIS PERIOD. THE NEXT TROUGH SLIDING IN FROM THE NW WILL BE BROAD...STRETCHING FROM W MANITOBA TO E LAKE SUPERIOR/CENTRAL LAKE MI THURSDAY AFTERNOON. FCST MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE EARLIER THAN NORMAL...THURSDAY AFTERNOON /DAY 2/. THE 21/06Z NAM IS A QUICK OUTLIER...WITH A CLOSED LOW DEVELOPING NEAR THE MACKINAC BRIDGE...BEFORE SHIFTING TO S QUEBEC FRIDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE THE 21/06Z GFS HAS A SIMILAR TREND...IT IS APPROX 6 HOURS SLOWER. THE 21/09Z SREF TENDS TO FOLLOW A SOLUTION SIMILAR TO THE GFS...WHILE THE 21/00Z CANADIAN IS AN AVERAGE BETWEEN THE GFS/SREF AND THE MUCH SLOWER 21/00Z ECMWF /LOW OVER W ONTARIO WHILE THE GFS HAS IT OVER THE S ONTARIO/QUEBEC BORDER/. THE ECMWF DOES NOT PLACE THE LOW OVER THE S ONTARIO/QUEBEC BORDER UNTIL 12Z SATURDAY...OR 18HRS BEHIND THE GFS. WILL PUSH THIS FORECAST CLOSER TO A GFS SOLUTION THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN UPPER MI AND LAKE SUPERIOR STUCK BETWEEN THE FIRST SFC LOW EXITING INTO QUEBEC AT 00Z THURSDAY...WITH THE STRONGER LOW DEVELOPING OVER THE N PLAINS AND CENTRAL CANADA. A WEAK SFC TROUGH WILL CONNECT THE TWO. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRAST THE MODELS CAN BE SEEN OFF THE 00Z FRIDAY SFC MAP. THERE IS A CLUSTER OF MODELS /GFS/NAM/SREF/ WITH THE LOW OVER CENTRAL TO N LOWER MI. BY CONTRAST THE CANADIAN HAS IT ALONG THE LOWER MI/IA/OH BORDER...WITH THE ECMWF ALONG THE CONFLUENCE OF THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS. AS STATED ABOVE...WILL PUSH THE FCST TO A MORE CENTRAL LOWER MI SOLUTION AT 00Z FRIDAY. THIS WILL KEEP THE BULK OF THE SYNOPTIC MOISTURE FALLING JUST SOUTH OF THE CWA. AFTER 18Z FRIDAY ALL OF THE SOLUTIONS COME INTO SOME BASIC AGREEMENT OVER OUR CWA...WITH N TO NW WINDS AND 850MB TEMPS IN THE -8 TO -12C RANGE. 850MB TEMPS OF -14 TO -16C SHOULD BE COMMON BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON...BEFORE WAA ON MORE SW WINDS TAKE HOLD SATURDAY NIGHT. STRONG SSW WINDS WILL LIKELY TAKE HOLD SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY NIGHT /DEPENDING ON THE TIMING OF THE NEXT LOW. THE ECMWF ENDS UP BEING ROUGHLY 12 HOURS SLOWER THAN THE GFS WITH THIS NEXT SYSTEM COMING OUT OF THE PLAINS. A STRONGER MORE NORTHERLY LOW OFF THE ECMWF WOULD BRING 850MB TEMPS OF 2C...COMPARED TO THE WARMEST READINGS OFF THE GFS OF -6C. AT 00Z TUESDAY THE SFC 983MB SFC LOW OFF THE ECMWF IS OVER NE MN...WHILE AT THE SAME TIME THE WEAKER/QUICKER GFS HAS A 1003MB LOW OVER FAR S QUEBEC. GIVEN THE LOWER CONFIDENCE WITH THE FORECAST WILL NOT DIVE TO MUCH INTO THE SPECIFICS...AND KEEP A CONSENSUS GOING FROM SATURDAY NIGHT ON. EVEN WITH ALL THE DIFFERENCES...SUNDAY NIGHT LOOKED TO BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO INCLUDE LIKELY POPS OVER S CENTRAL UPPER MI. OTHERWISE...WILL KEEP CHANCE OF LESS POPS GOING THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD WITH LOWER THAN NORMAL CONFIDENCE. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 656 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 MOISTURE/-SN WRAPPING AROUND MIDLEVEL LOW APPROACHING WRN LAKE SUPERIOR WILL AFFECT KIWD/KCMX/KSAW TONIGHT INTO WED MORNING. KCMX WILL BE IMPACTED MOST. AFTER BRIEF IMPROVEMENT IN THE LAST HR... EXPECT CONDITIONS AT KCMX TO FALL BACK TO PREDOMINANTLY IFR THIS EVENING UNDER UPSLOPING WESTERLY FLOW OFF LAKE SUPERIOR. AT KIWD...MVFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL WITH LESS LAKE INFLUENCES. AT KSAW...DOWNSLOPING WIND COMPONENT WILL RESULT IN HIGHER MVFR CIGS TONIGHT WITH -SN PROBABLY NOT CAUSING MUCH VIS RESTRICTION. IMPROVEMENT EXPECT WED AS MIDLEVEL LOW DEPARTS...THOUGH MVFR CONDITIONS WILL PROBABLY LINGER AT KIWD/KCMX. && .MARINE...(FOR THE 4 PM LAKE SUPERIOR FORECAST ISSUANCE) ISSUED AT 400 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 AS LOW PRESSURE SLIDES EASTWARD THROUGH NRN LAKE SUPERIOR AND INTO QUEBEC BY WED AFTERNOON...WRLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 KT TONIGHT INTO WED. WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATE WED INTO WED NIGHT AS HIGH PRES BUILDS INTO THE UPPER GREAT LAKES. WINDS WILL THEN REMAIN RELATIVELY LIGHT INTO UNTIL FRI WHEN NRLY WINDS OF 15 TO 25 KT ARE POSSIBLE AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES TO THE SOUTH OF THE REGION. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UPPER MICHIGAN... NONE. LAKE SUPERIOR... NONE. LAKE MICHIGAN... NONE. && SHORT TERM...JLB LONG TERM...KF AVIATION...ROLFSON MARINE...JLB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 414 AM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-220915- KEWEENAW-ONTONAGON-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-BARAGA-MARQUETTE-ALGER-LUCE- GOGEBIC-IRON-DICKINSON-MENOMINEE-DELTA-SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- SOUTHERN HOUGHTON-NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- 414 AM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 /314 AM CST TUE FEB 21 2012/ 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY 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>267-220915- 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- 414 AM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 /314 AM CST TUE FEB 21 2012/ 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. LMZ221-248-250-220915- 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- 414 AM EST TUE FEB 21 2012 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. TITUS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
910 PM EST TUE FEB 21 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 PM SNOW 1 S BERGLAND 46.59N 89.57W
02/21/2012 E2.0 INCH ONTONAGON MI PUBLIC
1 TO 2 INCHES OF WET SNOW HAS FALLEN THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
STILL SNOWING LIGHTLY.
&&
KCOOLEYThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The observer in Laurium measured eight inches of lake enhanced snow in 12 hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, February 2012
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: 365150.