Up_north_MI

To each their own but I’m not a fan of severe wind, hail and rain. All it means to me is the clean up after. We have a back up natural gas generator thankfully but the power outages are also a pain for many. The power was out for 35 hours here from the last storm a few days ago and still lots of clean up is needed in places. A good buddy of mine has major hail damage to his truck also from the last storm. Hopefully today’s storms fizzle out, we’ve had enough  I feel at least here in the thumb of the MI. It hasn’t been as bad up north but again we don’t need any severe storms up there either.

We’re under a winter storm warning for 6-10 with high winds here in northern lower MI, probably looking at another month of this type weather before we turn the corner to Spring, so glad we’re heading to FL next week, I’m “wintered” out!

On 3/19/2023 at 1:40 PM, weatherbo said:

Many times especially during early and late season events It'll be snowing here, and in Big Bay and Marquette it's plain rain.

I do.  I live on a north facing hill.  My house sits at 1640' with the hill peaking behind my house around 1700'.  Just a few miles away elevation quickly falls to around 1100' so there's a quick 600' rise to my house and that's not including the fact that I'm roughly 1100' in elevation above Superior which is roughly 8 miles away.  Also I'm close to 200' above the MQT WFO down near Negaunee, which is a magnet all their own.

And as Beav mentioned, my area is pretty much upslope to some degree in every direction.  This place is a fog haven as well.

We stayed at a off the grid cabin a couple times the past few months near you, off the 510 just past the Yellow Dog Falls near Big Pup Falls. The snow wasn’t great back in January when we were there but still had close to 30”. Our whole group was back this past weekend again and said the snow was the best it’s been all season but unfortunately I couldn’t go because of plans I already had so I missed out on the good stuff. You’re area is by far my favorite area to snowmobile in Michigan, love visiting up there!

Ended up having a decent ride Friday night to dinner to Grayling and a really nice ride all day yesterday. We picked up some much needed fresh lake effect Friday night and most of yesterday till early afternoon. Probably picked up close to 3” of fresh at our place at Higgins but we rode north and west and the there was closer to 5” of fresh snow out that way. Snow depths vary a lot because of the strength of the sun this time of year but I did step off my sled and sank up to my knee on a wooded shaded untouched two track, still lots of snow in the woods in north west lower. The groomed trails we did ride were really nice for mid March but looking at the forecast for the next week or so I would say it’s time to put the sleds away unless you were heading to the UP where it’s going to to be decent for a while yet north of M28 other then getting into and out of towns I’m sure. With how warm winter started out I wouldn’t be shocked to see it trying to hold on through April to make up for it but we’ll see, I’ve seen some pretty big snow storms in northern MI in April over the years so it’s a definite possibility.

4 hours ago, weatherbo said:

Nice.

Glad you enjoyed the area. It really is a beautiful and unique place with its remoteness, ruggedness, lack of roads, people.  I love it because of the quiet and peace I feel, and you get the sense of being part of your surroundings not just a spectator in it (if that makes sense). 

In the summer I spend quite a bit of time riding my dirt bike on and near trail 5... you can pick and putter your way through trails and old logging roads that disappear in the winter, and explore in a way you can't with a sled and 4 feet snow.  I recommend to anyone who enjoys this area to come in the summer as well.  The wilderness comes alive.  It will almost make you believe in the boogieman. 

Actually them logging roads with the 4’ of snow on them off the trail are the reason we’ll be heading back next winter, the trails are nice but the off trail/two track/fire and logging roads are where the fun is especially with deep untouched snow on them. It’s not as steep and deep as what we ride out west but there’s something to be said for only being 6 hours from home and nearly 10,000 feet lower in elevation and able to breathe.

On 3/2/2022 at 4:14 PM, weatherbo said:

It's definitely a micro climate driven area.

As far as the storm goes, I started with a depth of 28" and had a 50" depth at the end of the storm, while receiving around 40" of snow.  So it was a 22" depth increase over a 54 hour period.  The snow ratios were averaging 15:1 and there was quite a bit of wind as well that I believe accounted for the quick settling.  Highest reported total was 6 nw Negaunee with 45".

MQT peaked at 43" and have a current depth of 30".  My depth of 50"  has settled to an average of 38".  Very similar rise and fall in depth as MQT.  I just started with much more otg.  

Kudos to anyone who can accurately measure feet of snow on top of feet of snow.  My snow stake that drifted well over the 60" mark has settled down to 50".

Just a great long duration winter storm no matter what amount fell.

We just returned from your area, Big Bay. I can definitely see why you chose that area to live, it’s easily the most beautiful part of MI if you’re looking for a true rugged outdoor paradise. It had been years since I’ve snowmobiled in that area and forgot how beautiful it truly is. We stopped Friday night to take a break and have some water about 9:00 about half way up trail 5, about 30 miles or so south of Big Bay, it was so dark and quiet it truly is a deep remote wilderness in the middle of the Huron’s. 

Just got back from snowmobiling the past few days in the Huron Mts, stayed in Big Bay. It’s been years since the last time I’ve rode up in that area and forgot how beautiful it is. To me it has without a doubt the most scenic snowmobile trails in the state of MI. I’m not a big trail riding guy but this past weekend was a couple’s trip and there’s no way our wives could have rode off trail in that area with the current snow depths they have currently so we stuck to the trails. We’re already planning a guys off trail trip to that area for next season, can’t wait. I would say snow depths ranged from maybe 16” down low close to lake level to maybe 40” or more above 1500 feet in elevation. The entire UP still has a crap load of snow that will be around for a while I would bet. You definitely have to be a tough person to live up there throughout a entire winter, no way I could handle it, I’m a wimp and by March I’m ready to start seeing my lawn and grass again, up there it’s probably closer to May in many areas. 

Spent the past few days snowmobiling out of Deer Park, would say snow depths range from 36-40 inches pretty much everywhere we’ve been. Without a huge long warmup people will be riding well into April up here especially north of M28.

39 minutes ago, weatherbo said:

Well, we could certainly use another poster up this way.  

Nearby neighbor.

 

 

Looks like we planned our Big Bay trip pretty close to peak depths, we’ll be up there a week from tonight. Heading to Deer Park in the morning, depths there won’t be close to what Bo’s area has but should still be 36” plus. As of now planning on spending the the couple weekends after Big Bay trip in Paradise if the snow holds out. I’m not a fan of chasing snow all season especially with diesel pushing $4.00 a gallon but it is what it is. When Mother Nature gives our area of northern lower MI lemons we just have to go north of the bridge to make it lemonade I guess.

22 minutes ago, josh_4184 said:

The UP  has no reason to complain this year, LES been great up there along with a couple synoptic events. Northern Lower needs some snow especially for the businesses and is more than due.  The past few years have been brutal, unless your a ski resort and can make it. 

I was thinking about all the businesses in northern lower yesterday and how tough it must be for many of them that rely on the snow to bring them business. The UP businesses have definitely been fortunate especially the places north of M28. Unfortunately I feel at least for the snowmobile businesses in the lower it’s going to be to little to late if we get a couple weeks of rideable snow to finish out the season. Usually by March it’s mostly the diehard snowmobilers left riding and many of them are probably willing to chase the snow to the UP I would bet. The lower may become the place to ride side x side’s for 10+ months a year and the upper may become the only area to go for reliable snow for snowmobiling unfortunately.

Hopefully it hits north of the bridge, that’s where I’ll be riding the rest of this winter, I’ve given up on the lower for this season. 

Snow really lightened up over here in the southern thumb, did come down for a while though, had 3” just before dark a couple hours ago. Looking at the radar it looks like the snow is further north and west then then the models showed the past few days. 

Heavy rain doesn’t do us here in MI thumb much good this time of year. We have way to much frost in the ground for much of it to find its way into the ground unfortunately. We live on a small 120 acre farm, it’s my in-laws, we built our  house on the far corner years ago and my son and I help my father in law farm this and around a additional 150 acres that he rents. This 120 is tiled but the rented land isn’t unfortunately. This past Fall was pretty wet out this way but it’s been dry since late November.

7 hours ago, Wttnwx said:

Im a snowmobiler. Though I rarely ride in the midwest anymore. Only when trails are open in my area, SE WI. 

I take 3-4, week long trips to Rockies every season. Actually Im in western Wyoming right now. Snow is thin for this area at this time of year as well. No official measurement, but probably about 50"-60" on ground at 10k feet. Hasn't really snowed here in the last month. 

Last year was a pretty epic season. This year not so much...

I enjoy riding out west also, unfortunately this will be the 3rd winter in a row that our group won’t be going out there. We had a trip planned to the Crater Lake area in Oregon that March that Covid hit so we had to cancel and now with my son’s school schedule, he’s a sophomore in college, it’s more difficult for him to take a week off during school so we have just been chasing snow here in MI the past two winters. Hopefully once he graduates we’ll start getting back out west riding before I get to old and can’t do it safely anymore. We’ve riding in West Yellowstone probably a half dozen times, Island Park, Cook city and the last few trips were to Togwotee. When we used to trailer out there we would go to Albany south west of Laramie. Have a safe trip and hopefully you guys will get some fresh powder to play in.

This will really tell you how much of a nerd I am when it comes to winter weather and snowmobiling but I’ve kept a journal going back to the 1995-1996 winter, yes 27 years, that lists each snowmobile trip I did, where it was, how much snow was on the ground, who I rode with and how many miles we rode along with a little short description of the trip itself. I also give a summary at the end of each season like what sled we had at the time, total miles rode that season and if it was a good season or bad. I know very nerdy but it’s neat to look back at it and the memories it brings back up. I will say the last “great “ season according to my journal was 2007-2008. Since then 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2016-2017 were good seasons, the remaining I considered bad.

This says it all, very little snow pack in northern lower right now, like snow freak said he has more snow in his yard down river then most areas up here, another strange winter season. 

The UP is having a pretty good winter for snowfall and cold but it’s been like like a different world as soon as you get south of the bridge, “hopefully” that will start to change so we can salvage the remaining 6 weeks or so of winter in northern lower. The cold has been there but the snow really hasn’t. Looking like a few chances for a little fresh snow between now and the last big winter holiday weekend, President’s weekend. I’m not a huge fan of having to chase snow but this season we’ve had to unfortunately. 

1 hour ago, Lightning said:

No joke.  Nov. was the off switch for precip in the Great Lakes.  Sure there has been a handful of systems but they have been few and very far between.  

Yup, you’re exactly right, we had a wet fall but December and January have been dry. Seems the UP is doing better precipitation wise because Lake Superior has stayed mostly open and it’s been windy and cold enough to give that area lake effect. Will be interesting to see if things change as we finish up February and head into March. Maybe we’ll have a wet and warm spring to balance out the past month or so of cold and dryness.

On 2/2/2022 at 3:51 PM, outflow said:

There is a set of trails that run in eastern sanilac county/se Huron county over here in the thumb, I don't ride so no idea what they are like but I see the maps every once/while hanging in a couple local sporting goods shops

I’ve ridden them a number of times, mostly edges of fields but they are groomed and signed well, well they were, I haven’t ridden them in a few years actually. The one dump site was in Sandusky behind the movie theater about 35 miles north of me.

18 minutes ago, Up_north_MI said:

With the Det radar down it’s hard to tell if the snow we’re getting here now in northern St Clair county is from the lake or part of the system snow coming up from the south. We’ve been under 3/4 a mile vis for the past couple hours now with a stiff north east wind. We have a hair over 6” on the ground here.

Answered my own question, NWS/Det had a little write up about it being lake effect from Huron. Flakes are actually bigger now then any we got yesterday.

With the Det radar down it’s hard to tell if the snow we’re getting here now in northern St Clair county is from the lake or part of the system snow coming up from the south. We’ve been under 3/4 a mile vis for the past couple hours now with a stiff north east wind. We have a hair over 6” on the ground here.

43 minutes ago, Jonger said:

Damn, let's hang out ... this barn is exactly what I'm planning too.

I’ll be completely honest buddy but I would bet you would hate to ride with my group and the type of riding we normally do. Friday we spent all day in the woods climbing hills through trees and on power lines and didn’t even put on 30 miles. Saturday we rode a little more but still it was under 90 miles I bet. Last season I put around 800 miles on my sled and maybe 20 of them miles were on a groomed trail, yes only 20 miles all season with the rest being “off trail “ miles. Most of our group run RMK’s and Summits 146”-155” inch tracks. A friend of ours has a 2020 skidoo renegade 850 with the 1.25” track and didn’t make it 200 feet in the woods the first morning with the group and had to retreat back to the trail, him and two other guys from our 11 man group ended up riding trails the rest of the weekend and they would meet us for dinner at the end of the day. A normal day for our group of guys is we make and eat a big breakfast and are out riding by 10:00, we bring lots of water and protein bars and snack on them while out riding and always try to be back before dark when we try to go out for a decent dinner or we cookout, depends where we’re at but we don’t consume alcohol during the day, only after the sleds are parked for the night. If any of that sounds like fun we could definitely try to ride together sometime.

1 hour ago, josh_4184 said:

Not much to talk about again this year in my area, I had one good week around first week of December since then just a few inches here or there. No real sustained LES, The pattern has sucked for our area with the toughing setup to close to us, most systems miss to the south and most LES is N or NNW wind flow which isn't good unless your hugging the coast. UP has been pretty good overall though. I have about a foot at my house but trails and two tracks are beat to sh*t right now. I seen a ton of riders around the area over the weekend riding in dirt with some snow with whooped out trails. Desperate i get it especially since the past 2-3 years have been abysmal for snow..

I guess I'm pretty happy about selling the sleds a few years back and buying a boat got a lot more use out of that thing that's for sure.  Although I do miss the sleds everyone once in a while. Certainly not worth the costs/headache to ride for a couple good weeks a year.

 

I completely understand why you sold the sleds Josh, the past few winters in the lower have really been sub par at best. There’s definitely been some good stretches with deep snow and enough cold to maintain the snow but them stretches have really been short lived. My brother n law and I started looking for acreage in the UP this past summer that we can build a “barndominium” on and ride and hunt out of. Not 100% sure where yet but we would like to keep it within 2 hours of the bridge at the most and along 28 or north. We have a bunch of friends that have places in Lakes of the north and even they have had to trailer to Newberry quite a few times the past couple years to get decent riding and normally if you’re area doesn’t have snow nobody in the lower does.

Currently up here in Houghton having lunch, rode up from Twin Lakes, lots of sleds, trails are getting choppy. We spent all day yesterday in the trees and power lines, they could use more snow but it’s decent, maybe 30” down near Twin Lakes, maybe 18” up here in Houghton. The drive up here Thursday night was flat out horrible, white out conditions most of the way, love riding out this way but hate the drive.