On February 6, 2019 an ice jam formed on the Grand River in Portland. Approximately 50 residents were evacuated from their homes along Water Street in downtown Portland.
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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 GRR wrote it up.
On February 6, 2019 an ice jam formed on the Grand River in Portland. Approximately 50 residents were evacuated from their homes along Water Street in downtown Portland. 2 days later, on February 8, the ice jam shifted and thickened, causing additional flooding. Many businesses along Kent Street were flooded, and residents along Canal and Market streets were evacuated. The ice jam held for more than 3 weeks before finally melting and shifting downstream. Some homes on Water Street experienced continuous flooding for most of this 3 week period. The flooding caused approximately $200,000 damage to public facilities alone. This total does not include the damage to private homes and businesses from the flood.
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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 6, 6:43 AM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 643 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 LATEST UPDATE... Aviation .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 314 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 - Wintry precipitation diminishes today, before ramping up again tonight further north - Brief warmup late Thursday, then cold returns quickly Thursday night with lake effect into Friday - Some light accumulation of snow possible Sunday - Wintry mix possible next Tuesday && .DISCUSSION...(Today through next Tuesday) Issued at 314 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 We will be holding on to the advisory for all locations early this morning at least through the morning commute. Areas further south will see less impacts this morning with temperatures a bit warmer, and above freezing for many locations down south. We may be able to cancel some of those counties early. The main area of precipitation is now in the process of exiting the area after bringing some robust precipitation rates to the area. We saw almost half an inch of rain in an hour that amounted to about a quarter of an inch of ice here at the office. The situation has pretty much transpired as expected with little freezing rain along I- 94, the core of the ice along I-96, and sleet up toward Mt. Pleasant. We do expect the appreciable pcpn to be almost done, except for the batch of pcpn south of Chicago that could clip the far southern counties through about 12z or so. There is a little bit of lightning in that batch, so we will maintain a small chance of thunder until that passes. Otherwise, we do expect to see some drizzle/freezing drizzle into the early afternoon hours as we lose the deep moisture/dgz, but low level moisture hangs on with the sfc low approaching the area to the south. Once the low moves by, we should see conditions dry out temporarily. We do expect another batch of wintry pcpn to move in overnight tonight. The initial set up of sleet, freezing rain, and rain, looks to be slightly north of the scenario this morning as temperatures initially look to be a tad warmer. This will be the leading edge of pcpn that is associated with the next upper wave coming out of the Four Corners region. The mixed pcpn will gradually change over to all rain from south to north by mid-Thursday afternoon as warmer air with the system advects over the area. It does look like thunder will be possible once again as elevated instability looks sufficient. The models have been fairly consistent in showing the warm sector sneaking up to around I-96, and bringing a surge of 50s over the southern areas. We do not have highs quite that high yet, but it remains quite plausible. The warm weather and thunder chances will be rather brief, and colder air will be quick to move back in Thu evening and Thu night. We become under the influence of cyclonic flow aloft on Friday, which will help in the production of lake effect. Instability will become quite good with 850 mb temps dropping to the lower -20s C, moisture will be up to around 10k ft, and inversion heights will be around 7k ft or so. The upper low lifts out by Friday night. Sfc highs will be only in the teens on Fri. We will see a brief break on Sat, before a weak and flat upper wave comes through on Sunday. This looks to bring a batch of light snow to the area with light accumulations. We are watching another potentially impactful system that could affect the area around the Tuesday time frame next week. This will be the result of another deep trough digging across the western U.S. and then ejecting out, and drawing some Gulf moisture northward. The evolution of this low is a bit uncertain at this time, but we could be looking at a wintry mix of pcpn. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday morning) Issued at 644 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 The freezing rain showers will be moving out of the area by 15z. Winds are expected to become light and given all the rain that fell overnight, expect some fog to develop. I may not have forecast the visibility low enough this afternoon. Some dense fog is more than possible. Since dry air will be moving in from the west, the fog issue will be more prevalent over eastern areas than western areas. IFR cigs should prevail most of the day. The next system will bring freezing rain to the I-96 TAF sites overnight and showers to the rest of the area. Most of the precipitation should be after midnight. IFR cigs/vsby is expected to prevail. An isolated thunderstorm is possible after 09z. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 330 PM EST Tue Feb 5 2019 Water from the huge snowmelt last weekend continues to work its way through the river system, first impacting the small streams, and then eventually making its way into the larger rivers (like the Muskegon, Grand, and Kalamazoo). Significant rises have been observed on most of our streams and rivers. Many of the small streams are cresting today or are expected to crest overnight tonight. The larger rivers will keep rising for several more days. No widespread flooding is expected. The cause for concern is much more localized, as the expected rises may be enough to break the ice and send ice chunks downriver, which could create additional ice jams. Several small ice jams have formed around the area, including on the Chippewa River and Macatawa River. So far, no major impacts/flooding have been observed. Once a river has crested and water levels begin to fall, the threat of ice jams will diminish significantly. There is a flood warning in effect for the Muskegon River at Bridgeton, where ice continues to clog the river channel and cause significantly elevated water levels. Impacts have been highly localized, and additional water level rises are anticipated in the next few days. The impact to the rivers of several rounds of precipitation over the next few days is hard to nail down, as much of the rain may freeze on the ground and not make it to the rivers right away. If these storms come through warmer and/or wetter than anticipated, the most likely impact would be to prolong the crest expected on our mainstem rivers into late this weekend/early next week. We will be watching closely over the next several days to fine-tune the forecast. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 1 PM EST this afternoon for MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074. && SYNOPSIS...NJJ DISCUSSION...NJJ AVIATION...WDM HYDROLOGY...AMD
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 408 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-070915- Mason-Lake-Osceola-Clare-Oceana-Newaygo-Mecosta-Isabella-Muskegon- Montcalm-Gratiot-Ottawa-Kent-Ionia-Clinton-Allegan-Barry-Eaton- Ingham-Van Buren-Kalamazoo-Calhoun-Jackson- 408 AM EST Wed Feb 6 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of southwest Lower Michigan. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Untreated roads will remain icy through the morning commute with sleet falling north of I-96, and freezing rain falling along I-96. Freezing drizzle will remain possible through noon north of I-94, before ending. Another batch of sleet and freezing rain will be possible beginning late this evening and overnight. This will cause roads to remain, or become icy once again, mainly north of I-94. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A rumble of thunder will be possible Thursday afternoon and early Thursday evening. Severe weather is not expected. Wet roads on Thursday and early Thursday evening are expected to freeze up Thursday night as much colder air drops in. Lake effect snow showers will become likely along and west of U.S.-131. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An ice jam formed and held in Portland for three weeks, resulting in significant flooding and around 200,000 dollars in damage to public facilities.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, February 2019
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: 835272.