- 1/20 08:00 AM:
Skies are finally clear. The moon is up in the SE sky. Snowfall has ceased! Picked up an additional 0.2″ overnight to bring our final storm total to 11.3″. - 1/19 10:15 PM:
The dry air that was supposed to enter the area by midday never happened. Instead, we’ve seen a steady stream of light, lake-effect snow. 0.4″ has fallen today and continues falling at this hour. This brings our storm total to 11.1″. - 1/19 2:50 PM:
Light, intermittent snow showers continue coming in off Lake Superior, but, so far, it hasn’t been accumulating. The weekend storm total remains 10.7″ since Friday night (1/17). If you’re thinking of waiting until the holiday tomorrow to clear snow, that’s not a bad plan. Winds will be lighter, and the sun should come out. - 1/19 11:00 AM:
Only a trace of additional snow since 7:30 AM. Snowfall is now intermittent with peaks of blue skies and sunshine. Looks like the storm is finally wrapping up. - 1/19 10:00 AM:
Seeing some localized blowing snow. Gusts have been around 20 mph this morning. - 1/19 7:45 AM:
2.4″ of fresh snow fell between 11:15 PM last night and 7:30 AM. Storm total is now up to 10.7″. Light to moderate snowfall continues this morning. Snow should end by noon but winds will remain brisk. - 1/18 11:30 PM:
Another 1″ of snow has fallen in the last 3 hours bringing our storm total to 8.3″. Models show another 1″ mostly falling before daybreak. Wouldn’t be surprised if that turns into 2+” by 8 AM. - 1/18 8:20 PM:
We picked up 1.3″ of additional snowfall from 2 PM to 8 PM. Event total so far: 7.3″. Meanwhile, lake-effect snow showers are underway and should intensify as the night wears on. I’ll take one more measurement before midnight. - 1/18 4:40 PM:
Pressure is now rising. Winds directions are wobbling from north to northwest. Winds should stabilize to northerly eventually. There may be a bit of a lull for a few hours while lake-effect snowfall conditions optimize (faster winds, cooler temps, etc). Next snow measurement: 8 PM. - 1/18 2:15 PM:
Additional 0.6″ measured at 2:00 PM bringing storm total to 6.0″. Expecting pressure to bottom out in the next couple hours. Winds will turn to the north and increase in speed as lake-effect snow commences. Could see heavy snowfall again this evening and/or overnight. - 1/18 12:10 PM:
Snuck outside at noon for a preliminary measurement following heavy snowfall. Recorded an additional 3.7″ since 8 AM. That brings the storm total to 5.4″. - 1/18 10:35 AM:
A heavy band of snowfall has dropped visibility to 1/4 mile. Meanwhile, wind speeds have been trending down all morning. Expect a directional change this afternoon. That’s when Lake Superior starts to get involved. - 1/18 8:00 AM:
1.7″ measured since snow started flying last night. It’s fairly lightweight & shouldn’t be too difficult to shovel. I’ll take another measurement at 2 PM.
Category: Snow
Weekend Wrap Up (1/10-12)
Some may wonder what happened to all the snow that was in last week’s forecasts. Well… this is a story about a cool, dry Canadian high picking a fight with a warm, moist low to the south.
Numerical weather predictions (“the models”) were all over the place in the days leading up to the presumed storm Saturday/Sunday. In the end, the low pressure system with all the embedded moisture ended up tracking further southeast into Lower Michigan. High pressure won the day.
However, northeast winds and cooler temperatures were sufficient to produce some extremely lightweight, low-intensity, lake-effect snowfall. This is snow where you can decide between a shovel and a broom when it comes time to clean up! Gusty winds kept lifting it off our snow boards. We ended up only measuring 0.2″. But our estimate is about 1.5″ of snow fell early Saturday through Sunday afternoon.
An active week to 10 days lies ahead. In particular, a significant storm originating out of the Rockies may head up our way Fri/Sat. Some smaller snow events in between. Also some lake effect to follow, possibly.
Were Those Snow Squalls?
During the 2:00 – 4:30 PM time frame on Tuesday afternoon (12/17/19), Marquette saw two distinct lines of heavy snowfall that spanned approximately 75-100 miles west to east on radar (~ 10 miles north to south). The first hit about 2:15 PM EST. A second line had formed 2 hours later. Both only lasted for about 15-30 minutes. In between were light to moderate lake-enhanced snow showers. During each burst of snowfall, visibility dropped well below a quarter mile and winds were gusting near or above 20 mph in town according to our instruments and the U.S. Coast Guard station. Continue reading “Were Those Snow Squalls?”
Post Thanksgiving Winter Storm Recap
That was quite the winter storm for the 1st day of December! Three blocks south of downtown, we unofficially recorded a 12.1″ snowfall total. The official city COOP station near the lakefront reported 12.9″. That’s a new daily snowfall record for Marquette, assuming that number is confirmed by the local National Weather Service office. There was one other (unofficial) report in town of 13″.
Turns out, the storm concentrated its efforts further north than originally thought. More of Wisconsin was supposed to be in the mix. So my fears of it moving south and leaving us with another underwhelming snow total, as happened just 4 days beforehand, proved to be, let’s just say, “slightly off target”. Like a dart in the door frame.
Then there was the issue that so-called Winter Storm “Ezekiel” gave us twice the liquid precipitation (what you get when you melt a quantity of snow) than was modeled!
Also, during part of the morning and early afternoon, Lakes Huron and Superior hooked up to make extra snow.
Well, at least we had a beautiful sunny day to dig out!
Winter Storm Recap & Preview
Recap of Wednesday
The last winter storm that moved through the city on Wednesday (11/27) underwhelmed in terms of forecasted snowfall. In the end, I measured 4.1″. If I hadn’t cleared the snow boards immediately after the rain transitioned to snow (at 5:30 AM) to avoid melting and measured several times before the snow could settle, the result would have been a much lower total. Other reports from around town and nearby lakeshore communities were closer to 2-3″. The official city COOP station only recorded 1.0″.
There was plenty of precipitation embedded in that snow soup we received. This station’s final total was 1.36″ spread over 11/26-27. The COOP station reported 0.97″. NOAA “SWE analysis” (snow water equivalent) showed the city, in general, receiving 1.25″ – 1.5″ of precip. Up in Negaunee Township at the National Weather Service office, they received 3″ of precip & just over 16″ of snow! What a difference elevation makes!