A low pressure system developing over the Plains brought wet moderate snow to portions of Houghton County on the 21st.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
A low pressure system developing over the Plains brought wet moderate snow to portions of Houghton County on the 21st.
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 21, 3:04 PM EST, 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 304 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 303 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 WV IMAGERY SHOWING SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE ARROWHEAD OF MN THIS AFTERNOON. SHORTWAVE WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT INTO ONTARIO OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. BEST FORCING FOR PRECIPITATION WILL LAST FOR ABOUT 6 HOURS THIS EVENING MAINLY OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF UPPER MICHIGAN. QPF AMOUNTS IN THE 0.10-0.20 RANGE SHOULD YIELD 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SLUSHY SNOW WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OVER THE KEWEENAW. POPS SHOULD DIMINISH OVERNIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. THERE MAY STILL BE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AROUND FOR SOME PATCHY DRIZZLE OR FREEZING DRIZZLE LATER TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...IT SHOULD NOT BE ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT. WITH PLENTY OF CLOUDS AND PERSISTENT LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY WINDS THERE WILL BE VERY LITTLE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE RANGE TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW. NEXT SHORTWAVE AND SURFACE WAVE WILL BEGIN TO APPROACH THE UPPER GREAT LAKES BY LATE ON MONDAY. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 303 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 LONG TERM SHIFT CONTINUES TO BE BUSY THROUGHOUT...BUT IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE WED-THU STORM IS LESS LIKELY. A SERIES OF SHORTWAVE TROUGHS WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL CONUS THIS WEEK...INTENSIFYING AN UPPER TROUGH ALSO OVER THE CENTRAL CONUS THROUGH MID-WEEK. BY 00Z TUE...MODELS SHOW THAT THE TROUGH HAS STRENGTHENED TO A CLOSED LOW OVER ERN IA. A LARGE AREA OF PRECIP WILL EXIST JUST SW OF THE CWA ALONG AND AHEAD OF A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW AND IN AN AREA OF UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE. LIGHT PRECIP WILL MOVE IN MON NIGHT...WITH THE HEAVIEST PRECIP EXPECTED TUE MORNING AS YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE ROTATES AROUND THE LOW. MODELS VARY IN THE AMOUNT OF QPF...THE 12Z/21 GFS IS ON THE HIGH SIDE SHOWING WIDESPREAD AMOUNTS AROUND 0.45 INCHES TUE MORNING...THE 12Z/21 NAM IS 6 HOURS FASTER AND SHOWS SLIGHTLY LESS QPF...AND THE 00Z/21 ECMWF SHOWS ABOUT HALF THE QPF OF THE GFS. WARM AIR BEING PULLED FROM THE SE WILL KEEP PRECIP MOSTLY AS RAIN OVER THE ERN CWA AND MOSTLY SNOW OVER THE WRN CWA. IN BETWEEN...VERTICAL WET BULB TEMP PROFILES RIGHT AROUND 0C MAKES FOR A MORE DIFFICULT PTYPE FORECAST...ESPECIALLY WITH UNCERTAINTY. COULD END UP WITH ADVISORY LEVEL SNOWFALL...BUT UNCERTAINTY REMAINS TOO HIGH TO GET SPECIFIC WITH SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. FOR THE REST OF TUE AND TUE NIGHT...THE LOW OVER IA SHOULD WEAKEN AND TRAVERSE ACROSS THE CWA...WITH ONLY MINOR PRECIP AMOUNTS DURING THIS PERIOD. TUE LOOKS TO BE THE WARMEST DAY WITH HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. THE ONLY MODEL CONTINUITY FOR THE FORMER...AND POSSIBLY COULD STILL BE...CHRISTMAS EVE/DAY STORM IS THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO MODEL CONTINUITY...AT LEAST OVER THE LAST FEW RUNS. MODELS DID HAVE AT LEAST SOME DECENT CONTINUITY ABOUT 24 HOURS AGO...BUT AS IS FAIRLY TYPICAL...ONCE THE FIRST SHORTWAVE MOVED CLOSE/INTO THE BETTER OBSERVING NETWORK...MODELS DIVERGED FROM THEIR PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS AND FROM OTHER MODEL SOLUTIONS. HAVE SEEN MODELS RECOVER FROM THE SWING IN SOLUTIONS FOR SIMILAR STORMS IN THE PAST AND RETURN TO A SOLUTION MUCH LIKE WAS SHOWED BEFORE THE MODELS SWING. THIS IS THE CASE WITH THE NEWEST GFS (12Z/21) AS THE PREVIOUS RUN SHOWED THE SYSTEM MUCH WEAKER AND FARTHER E...BUT THE NEW RUN SHOWS THE UPPER TROUGH BEING SHARPER AND MORE NEGATIVELY TILTED...RESULTING IN A CLOSED SFC LOW MOVING N TO LAKE SUPERIOR AT 987MB AT 00Z THU THEN RAPIDLY MOVING TO ERN QUEBEC NEAR JAMES BAY AT 970MB AT 12Z THU. WHILE THE GFS IS STILL AN OUTLIER SOLUTION...AND CONFIDENCE IS LOWER WITH THE GFS DUE TO POOR ENSEMBLE CLUSTERING...THE SOLUTION SHOWN IS STILL IN THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY. THE 00Z/21 ECMWF IS SIMILAR TO THE 06Z GFS RUN IN SHOWING THE SYSTEM MUCH WEAKER AND FARTHER E. EVEN IF THE FARTHEST W GFS VERIFIES...ONLY THE EXTREME ERN CWA WOULD BE GRAZED BY THE GREATER SYNOPTIC PRECIP. WITH THE MORE BETTER CONFIDENCE IN THE MORE ERN/WEAKER SOLUTION...PRECIP BEING ALL OR MOSTLY SNOW BY WED IS FAVORED. STILL WILL SEE SOME SYNOPTIC SNOW...BUT ONLY MINOR AMOUNTS...AS THE UPPER TROUGH SHIFTS ACROSS THE AREA. WILL CONTINUE MONITORING CLOSELY...BUT CHANCES FOR A MAJOR WINTER STORM APPEAR TO BE DWINDLING. WITH 850MB TEMPS FALLING TO AROUND -8C BY THU AND W-WNW LOW LEVEL WINDS...COULD SEE SOME LAKE ENHANCED/UPSLOPE SNOW OVER THE W/KEWEENAW FROM WED NIGHT...WEAKENING THROUGH THE DAY THU AS THE SYNOPTIC FORCING MOVES E. MODELS THEN BRING ANOTHER SHORTWAVE JUST SW OF THE CWA ON FRI AHEAD OF AN UPPER TROUGH. OF COURSE...LOTS OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THE SHORTWAVE...BUT COULD SEE SNOW FRI AS A RESULT. LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND MUCH COLDER TEMPS ARE THE FOCUS WITH THE UPPER TROUGH MOVING IN AS 850MB TEMPS FALL TO -20C TO -25C BY SAT MORNING AND REMAIN OVER THE AREA INTO SUN. IF THIS OCCURS...WILL SEE A GOOD LES EVEN IN WNW-NW WIND SNOWBELTS LATE FRI INTO AT LEAST SUN. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 1233 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBACE FROM THE WEST WILL ALLOW LIGHT SNOW TO DEVELOP ACROSS UPPER MICHIGAN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. CIGS AT CMX AND SAW WILL LOWER INTO THE IFR RANGE DURING THIS TIME. DOWNSLOPING SOUTHERLY WINDS AT IWD SHOULD KEEP CIGS THERE ON THE FENCE BETWEEN MVFR AND IFR. LIGHT SNOW WILL TAPER OFF OVERNIGHT TONIGHT BUT ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL KEEP CIGS AT CMX AND SAW AT THE MVFR/IFR THRESHOLD THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. && .MARINE...(FOR THE 4 PM LAKE SUPERIOR FORECAST ISSUANCE) ISSUED AT 303 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS UP TO 30 KTS OVER MAINLY THE EAST HALF OF LK SUPERIOR WILL PERSIST TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS TO THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES. AS THE LOW LIFTS OVER THE AREA ON TUESDAY...WINDS WILL DIMINISH TO LESS THAN 20 KTS. NEXT CHANCE FOR STRONGER WINDS DEVELOPS LATE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY AS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEEPENS EAST OF LK SUPERIOR. WNW-NW WINDS OF 30 KTS WITH A FEW GALE GUSTS TO 35 KTS ARE LIKELY. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UPPER MICHIGAN... NONE. LAKE SUPERIOR... NONE. LAKE MICHIGAN... NONE. && SHORT TERM...MZ LONG TERM...TITUS AVIATION...MZ MARINE...MZ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 328 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-222030- KEWEENAW-ONTONAGON-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-BARAGA-MARQUETTE-ALGER-LUCE- GOGEBIC-IRON-DICKINSON-MENOMINEE-DELTA-SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- SOUTHERN HOUGHTON-NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT- 328 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 /228 PM CST SUN DEC 21 2014/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT LIGHT SLUSHY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY OVER MUCH OF UPPER MICHIGAN. THE MOST SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF UPPER MICHIGAN. THE SNOW WILL BE WET AND HEAVY AND COULD RESULT IN SLIPPERY TRAVEL. THERE IS STILL A POTENTIAL THAT ANOTHER STORM WILL AFFECT UPPER MICHIGAN WITH A PERIOD OF MIXED PRECIPITATION CHANGING TO SNOW WEDNESDAY INTO CHRISTMAS DAY. THE LATEST INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE WORST WEATHER WILL REMAIN EAST OF UPPER MICHIGAN. THE TRACK AND INTENSITY OF THE STORM REMAINS VERY UNCERTAIN THOUGH...SO THOSE WITH TRAVEL PLANS FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY ARE ENCOURAGED TO STAY TUNED TO LATER FORECASTS. MODERATE TO POSSIBLY HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS EXPECTED IN WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS SNOWBELTS NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR LATE FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. LSZ162-240>251-263>267-222030- 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- 328 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 /228 PM CST SUN DEC 21 2014/ 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 ALTHOUGH THERE REMAINS UNCERTAINTY ON THE EVENTUAL TRACK AND INTENSITY OF A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH THE CENTRAL GREAT LAKES ON WEDNESDAY AND INTO ONTARIO ON THURSDAY...NORTHWEST GALES TO 35 KNOTS ARE EXPECTED LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE EAST HALF OF LAKE SUPERIOR. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. LMZ221-248-250-222030- 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- 328 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2014 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE NEED FOR WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. TITUS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
There were two separate reports of four inches of wet snow at both South Range and Hubbell in approximately six hours. There was another report of three inches of snow in four hours at Laurium. Roads were reported to be very slippery from the snowfall.
There were two separate reports of three inches of wet snow at Nisula in seven hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 2014
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: 552690, 552691.