Michigan, 2024

Winter Storm in Michigan, January 12 to 13, 2024

January 12 to 13, 2024 · NWS APX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

Very strong troughing worked across the Mississippi Valley and over the southern Great Lakes 1/12 into 1/13, providing impressive forcing aloft to rapidly deepen a cyclone near 980mb as it worked across the southern half of Michigan and over Lake Huron by the morning of 1/13. This system produced a swath of 7 to 12 inches of snowfall across most of northern lower Michigan away from the Lake…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

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.

Very strong troughing worked across the Mississippi Valley and over the southern Great Lakes 1/12 into 1/13, providing impressive forcing aloft to rapidly deepen a cyclone near 980mb as it worked across the southern half of Michigan and over Lake Huron by the morning of 1/13. This system produced a swath of 7 to 12 inches of snowfall across most of northern lower Michigan away from the Lake Michigan shoreline, with localized totals of 15 inches in West Branch and Hale. Wind gusts exceeding 40 mph across most of the area lead to blowing and drifting snow that resulted in significant travel disruptions.

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 12, 2:39 PM EST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:39 PM EST, 21 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 12, 9:10 AM EST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Gladwin

When
January 12, 3:00 PM EST to January 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Gladwin forecast zone
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
43.991, -84.388 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Arenac

When
January 12, 3:00 PM EST to January 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Arenac forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.043, -83.747 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Ogemaw

When
January 12, 4:00 PM EST to January 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Ogemaw forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.335, -84.126 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Iosco

When
January 12, 4:00 PM EST to January 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Iosco forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.301, -83.514 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Alcona

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Alcona forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.712, -83.344 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Oscoda

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Oscoda forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
44.682, -84.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Crawford

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Crawford forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.684, -84.610 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Otsego

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Otsego forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations
Coordinates
45.021, -84.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Montmorency

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Montmorency forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.028, -84.127 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Alpena

When
January 12, 5:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Alpena forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
45.064, -83.460 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Presque Isle

When
January 12, 6:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Presque Isle forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.398, -83.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cheboygan

When
January 12, 6:00 PM EST to January 13, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Cheboygan forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.473, -84.492 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Michigan in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, January 2024

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: 1147556, 1147557, 1147558, 1147559, 1147560, 1147561, 1147562, 1147563, 1147564, 1147565, 1147566, 1147567.