Michigan, 2024

Winter Storm in Michigan, January 16 to 17, 2024

January 16 to 17, 2024 · NWS APX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Broad troughing encompassed most of the eastern CONUS as an embedded shortwave worked over the Great Lakes 1/16 into 1/17. A cyclone progressing across Ontario kept west-southwest low-level winds in place for an extended period of time through 1/17.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
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.

Broad troughing encompassed most of the eastern CONUS as an embedded shortwave worked over the Great Lakes 1/16 into 1/17. A cyclone progressing across Ontario kept west-southwest low-level winds in place for an extended period of time through 1/17. This helped focus lake effect snow across the far northern lower peninsula, dropping over a foot of snow across parts of Emmet and Cheboygan counties. The highest reported snowfall was 15 north of Indian River near Burt and Mullett Lakes. Gusty winds during the afternoon of 1/17 lead to whiteout conditions and dangerous travel at times.

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 16, 8:51 PM EST, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 8:51 PM EST, 9 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 16, 8:52 PM EST, 8 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 16, 8:27 PM EST, 33 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

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Emmet

When
January 16, 9:00 PM EST to January 17, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Emmet forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
45.588, -84.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cheboygan

When
January 17, 2:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Cheboygan forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager
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: 1148101, 1148102.