We really don’t have much to complain about here in the lakeshore counties compared to the areas of the Sierra Nevada in California our snowfall is fairly mundane. There are warnings in place out there for one to five feet of snow above 5500 feet. Of course, out in the Rockies they measure snowfall by the foot rather than inches just as they do in the upper highlands of Maine and Quebec. I have seen this type of snowfall and it is pretty awesome as long as you have a snowmobile or snowcat to get around.
The NWS has extended the advisory until 7am tomorrow morning for the lakeshore counties and one county inland for another one to three inches of snow. I always found this amusing but we aren’t allowed studs or chains as they do in the Rockies and northern Appalachians and the terrain is generally flat here compared to up and down in the mountains.
Our weather will start to improve by Friday when temps climb into the thirties and then mid forties on Saturday – the snow pack will disintegrate as we fight our way into spring.
Weather History
March 3
1943: Arctic air dominates the first ten days of the month. Record cold temperatures this morning include the 10 below zero at Muskegon and the 9 below at Grand Rapids.
1983: Record highs are set across Lower Michigan with Grand Rapids hitting 72 degrees and Muskegon 69 degrees. The first week of March is incredibly balmy with six straight days of high temperatures of 60 or above at Grand Rapids.
March 4
1912: Subzero cold continues during one of the coldest months of March on record across Lower Michigan. Muskegon sets a record low of 2 below zero on this morning, during a spell of five straight days below zero.
March 5
1948: Arctic high pressure dominates the first half of the month of March with record lows this morning of 8 below zero at Grand Rapids and 5 below at Muskegon.
1976: Thunderstorms move over cold air near the ground to produce one of the worst ice storms in history across Wisconsin and Lower Michigan. From 2 to 5 inches of ice builds up on trees and power lines, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people without power, some for as long as ten days.
March 6
1956: Severe thunderstorms moved across Lower Michigan ahead of a strong cold front. A tornado destroyed five barns and unroofed homes in North Blendon and Bauer in Ottawa County.
March 7
1908: After heavy snow in February, heavy rains and warmer conditions set in, setting the stage for a disastrous flood. The Kalamazoo River flooded the town of Albion when the Homer Dam broke around 3 p.m. By midnight, the bridges surrounding town were underwater. Six buildings in Albion collapsed.
1999: Arctic air and several inches of fresh snow on the ground combine to drop temperatures to a record low of 13 below zero at Lansing.
2000: Temperatures reach the 70s during a record early season warm spell. Grand Rapids hits 72 degrees and Lansing 74 degrees.
March 8
1943: Grand Rapids plummets to 13 below zero, the coldest ever recorded in March there. This caps a very cold period during the first ten days of the month, where four days had lows at or below zero at Grand Rapids.
2000: Temperatures soar into the upper 70s across Lower Michigan, with some places hitting 80 degrees. The 78 degrees at Grand Rapids is a record high for the date and for so early in the season.
2014: Severe and prolonged cold weather during the winter brought record ice coverage to Lake Michigan by early March. Ice coverage peaked at 93.29 percent on this date, just edging the record of 93.1 percent set in the winter of 1977.
2017: A powerful low pressure center moving through southern Canada brings winds gusting over 60 mph across Lower Michigan for much of the day. Winds reach 64 mph at Grand Rapids. The winds cause millions of dollars in damage and large scale power outages. Two people are killed when a tree falls on their vehicle while they were driving on M-115 in Clare County.
March 9
1996: Record subzero cold grips Lower Michigan with Grand Rapids and Lansing falling to 7 below zero and Muskegon hitting 6 below.
1998: Arctic air plunges across the Great Lakes after one of the warmest winters on record. The above normal water temperatures contribute to heavy lake effect snow squalls that produce blizzard conditions. From 8 to 12 inches of snow is piled into deep drifts by winds gusting over 40 mph.
I am heading up to snow country for the next three days and the skiiing conditions are near perfect with mid winter like temps and conditions! It doesn’t get better than this for mid March! You gotta love it! Winter in MI in March! Heaven on Earth!
By the way, I have been skiing now for 14 straight weeks! All of this during an El Niño winter! What a great outdoor winter season it has been! I love it!
25 more days on snow plow contracts… so with that said, I would assume 25 more snow plowings!!!!
That is the spirit!
The snow just keeps coming and I absolutely love it!!!
It’s only March. March is nothing more than one, of two remaining winter months. As we all know, snowfall is expected, and routine throughout the month of April. Granted, it’s much better to be “in March”, than “in January”, but the remaining sixty+ days of winter should’nt be ignored…whether your Unicorn agrees or not.
100% correct
Again I appreciate MV and Slim Weather thoughts on this blog I’m sorry you guys have to put of with some of the banntle on here because it’s below 32* degrees thanks again for everything you guys do!! INDY!!
Hey Indy we were the only 2 people in west mi that predicted above normal snowfall for GR! Incredible winter we are having! Skiing here I come!
Sprites for that call..Be safe Skilling! INDY!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The latest so-called “polar vortex” was a whimper. A few days ago, WOOD was forecasting highs in the low teens and lows just above zero. What we actually got was highs of 14 and 19 degrees and lows of 9 and 11 degrees. This comes to Monday and Tuesday being warmer by an average of 7 degrees per day than what was forecasted. This marks the 4th time in the past 5 weeks WOOD’s forecasts have been significantly too cold (I have yet to see an extended forecast being significantly warmer than what actually occurs). I started tracking this in… Read more »
Last real cold day of winter! Woohoo! The warm up keeps looking better and better
Here in the NW side of Grand Rapids and the Walker area and to the north there now has been snow on the ground for 48 days in a row. And here at my house this morning there is 9” on the ground and it looks very much like mid winter instead of it being March 6th I had some breaks in the clouds and it got down to 0 here at my house but the official low at the airport was just 11.
Slim
Perhaps you forgot what early March is like for GR? Not unusual at all.
March 7th, 2014: 19″ on the ground
March 7th, 2015: 8″ on the ground
March 2nd, 2016: 7″ on the ground
March 14th, 2017: 2″ on the ground
March 7th, 2018: 3″ on the ground
GR is currently reporting 6″ on the ground today.
It has also been as warm as 68 on March 6th so your point is????
Slim
My point is that going back only 5 years shows that this is pretty much what early March has looked like the past 5 years. Your post seemed to insinuate that 6″ on the ground is remarkable for this time of year – it is not.
I am just stating the facts 1. there is snow on the ground a official 6″ at the airport and 9″ here at my house. 2. it looks like some would say “mid winter” 3 here at my house there has been snow on the ground for 48 days 4. it is indeed March 6th. Of course there has been snow on the ground in March and there has been snow on the ground in April and even May in the past.
Slim
Yep…front/side yard measuring 7 inches, with 11 inches across the entire backyard in Ada. Trying to forget that the entire property is still covered in a layer of ice, beneath this snow :/
As Rocky has already pointed out Grand Rapids has now went above average for snow fall for the 2018/19 winter season. I looking back at were Grand Rapids was snow fall wise on January 20th this was a rather amazing feat.
Slim
This is a red letter day in GR weather history, we are now officially above normal for seasonal snowfall for the winter of 2018-19!!!!!!!! This is despite all bloggers and experts predicting an El Niño and below normal snowfall this year!!! There were a grand total of exactly 2 people that predicted above normal snowfall and I think we know who those 2 people were! Great job Indy!! What a winter it has been!! Keep the snow rocking till May!
I have to say when looking at were GR was snow fall wise back on January 20th I did not think Grand Rapids would get anywhere near this much snow this winter.
Slim
Rock on slim!
Another WWA! The snow just keeps coming despite the warm weather hype! Bring it!