As an arctic air mass moved over the Midwest, lake effect snow increased over the eastern Lake Michigan shore and continued almost nonstop from January 29th to 31st. Normally a prolonged period of lake effect snow would lead to impressive snow totals, but the extremely cold air mass did not allow for efficient snowflake production.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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 GRR wrote it up.
As an arctic air mass moved over the Midwest, lake effect snow increased over the eastern Lake Michigan shore and continued almost nonstop from January 29th to 31st. Normally a prolonged period of lake effect snow would lead to impressive snow totals, but the extremely cold air mass did not allow for efficient snowflake production. Nonetheless, the small snowflakes combined with gusty winds lead to a prolonged period of low visibility to near-blizzard conditions, especially along and west of US-131.
The lake effect snow finally ended Thursday evening, leaving behind an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow. The combination of falling snow, gusty winds, and light snow led to considerable blowing snow restricting visibilities across Lower Michigan for a prolonged period of time. In many areas, visibility was at or below 3 miles for days in a row, with extended periods of at or below 1/4 of a mile. There were hundreds of school closings during this period.
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 Jan 28, 6:35 PM EST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Four to eight inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Four to eight inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Four to eight inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
Four to eight inches of lake effect snow fell. This in conjunction with bitterly cold air and gusty winds that resulted in dangerously cold wind chills as cold as 20 to 40 below zero at times.
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, January 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: 800565, 800566, 800567, 800568, 800569, 800570, 800572, 800573, 800574, 800576, 800577.