Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 7, 2019

Name: Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 7, 2019
Start: 2019-01-07T06:00
End: 2019-01-07T23:00
Location: Michigan

January 7, 2019 · NWS APX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Deepening low pressure lifted across Iowa and Minnesota, passing west of Michigan. Moisture surged northward into northern Michigan on the 7th, ahead of the low.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS APX wrote it up.

Deepening low pressure lifted across Iowa and Minnesota, passing west of Michigan. Moisture surged northward into northern Michigan on the 7th, ahead of the low. Precipitation started everywhere as snow, but in northern lower Michigan turned to sleet, freezing rain, and then rain. The heaviest wintry precipitation fell in eastern upper Michigan, almost all in the form of snow. Snowfall totals of 10 to 16 inches were common in northern and eastern Mackinac County, and all of Chippewa County. Drummond Island reached 18 inches.

What forecasters said that day

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 Gaylord, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 7, 2:39 AM EST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 2:39 AM EST, 3 hours 21 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 7, 3:04 AM EST, 2 hours 56 minutes before

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Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Chippewa

When: January 7, 6:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Chippewa forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Mackinac

When: January 7, 6:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Mackinac forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Michigan in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, January 2019

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 805624, 805625.