slow poke

Just returned home from cleaning up at my brother n sister in law’s for the second day. They live just west of Armada, their house and road has been all over the news because of the incredible tree damage they received unfortunately. They live on Armada Ridge and True rd. Town is a mess, I’ve lived here for over 40 years and can’t believe how it looks right now, so sad. Thankfully no injuries so we have that to be thankful for. Thankfully we didn’t have any damage at our place but we’re 6 miles north of town. We lost power for about 28 hours which is nothing compared to our friends and family down in town. I’m not nor ever have been a fan of severe weather probably because of the clean up it requires after. Been a long couple days with many more to come.

Woke up to a few, yes 3” probably, of snow this morning here in the thumb, grass is completely covered but asphalt driveway is pretty much bare still. Hopefully this is the last of the snow for 6 or 7 months.

3 hours ago, WestMichigan said:

Wat is up with that red spot east of Whichita Falls, TX surrounded by a sea of green?

I noticed that also, strange. So looking at this map it looks like MI will end up averaging 2-3 degrees warmer then average for Dec, Jan and Feb? Am I looking at that correctly? Also, looking back at the long range winter forecast that were made by some back in the Fall, did any of them predict this outcome I wonder. I know a couple of the ones I remember seeing were predicting colder then normal which was definitely wrong.

9 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

There was absolutely more snow in southeast MI than northern lower MI last week. However with the melting at home and some fresh snow up here it was a nice few days. The lackluster snow season in northern MI, combined with a good Feb in southeast MI, meant a big snow trip was really not in the cards this year so just went up for a few days and got to see some elk!

 

Seeing the elk is pretty cool up there, been a few years since we’ve done that. Snow wise definitely not the best winter for it here in the mitt. With flights as cheap as they are right now this could have been a good year to fly out west and go check out some serious snow depths in the mountains. Or drive over to Chicago a week or so back. Deepest snow depth I had here at home was last week with about 12”-13”, up north at our place at Higgins it’s fluctuated between 10” and 18” since mid December with it peaking this past weekend. For as bad as it’s been there really hasn’t been any major thaws up north until this week which is really unusual so whatever snow did fall up there hasn’t really melted until this week. 

9 minutes ago, IWXwx said:

Has anyone heard from Bo lately? It's been awfully quiet from the yooper.

I was thinking about this also last week, I always enjoy his updates from up there. I will say my brothers n sisters n laws, yes 4 of them, are up snowmobiling out of a little town called Christmas this weekend, they rode over to Big Bay, Bo’s area, Friday and said the snow was pretty thin. They said there was more snow east and south compared to that area. Very strange year snow wise in MI. The bartender in some hole n the wall place they stopped at told them they were 100” below normal for snow this season so far. We chased fresh snow yesterday snowmobiling here at Higgins, we rode west to the Kalkaska area and found awesome fresh snow to play in. They picked up 8-12 inches Friday, found places where it was half way between my knee and waist deep and I’m 6’ tall with my boots on. Made for awesome snowmobiling considering how below normal snowfall wise most areas are up here.

59 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

Nice sunrise today after a little bit more fluffy snow last night. Loving this deep Winter, don't want it to end.

Great deep winter pictures Josh. Just shows how good Chicago has had it snow wise this month with the pictures that’s been coming out of there. Makes our winter wonderland look kinda weak. You decide where you’re going up north to yet?

Man I feel like I’m almost in the new snow belt capital of the Midwest , Chicago, with this constant snow falling lately. Picked up a couple more inches last night and still snowing lightly. 

Picked up 2”+ in the past 90 minutes in northern St Clair county, there’s a thin band of snow hitting us off southern Lake Huron and it’s intense. Wind is really ramping up also out of the north east. Just looking at the radar the storm looks like it’s heading more north north east then north east like I thought it was supposed to. Heck even northern lower will pick up a few inches if it keeps heading north. Enjoy the snow everyone!

Definitely a crappy lake effect season for most of the MI snow belts. We’re actually getting some pretty heavy snow now down here in the ”thumb” from Huron though, I would much rather have a north west wind during the winter and keep the lake effect where it belongs, up north.

6 minutes ago, Powerball said:

We're under a Winter Storm Watch for 3-7" plus near-blizzard conditions Sunday night/Monday, and then it's looking increasingly likely that we'll see several more inches of snow on Wednesday.

Who would have thought Dallas (of all places) would see snow on top of snow, lol.

Dang, other then this 2 week cold snap Dallas looks to be having a harder winter then Detroit!

Petoskey and Harbor Springs area were near white out today while I was there, easily had the most fresh snow I saw from my drive from Higgins to there and back today. Drove through some really intense bands. Gaylord area and south was much better for the drive back with much lighter snow falling. Definitely looking like winter should in the Mitt.

Man the past couple days with all that sun really took a toll on the deep snow pack that we had up here at our place. There’s probably only 6-8” here, hopefully we get that 4-6” tonight to freshen it up some.

34 minutes ago, MIstorm97 said:

It was either Bettes or Seidel. I was in downtown having fun in the snow and talked to him. Most recent time someone from TWC was in Michigan was when the dams collapsed in Edenville and Sanford

Good catch MIstorm, totally forgot about that last year. That was pretty localized but definitely a major problem. 

13 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

will Gaylord proper be too far east? supposed to head north in a few weeks. What would you recommend is the best spot based on the upcoming setup?

Chicago or New York!  Lol....

10 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

One of The Weather Channel guys wasn't Detroit for the February 9, 2018 snowstorm. Friend of mine who works downtown saw him while they were doing one of their segments. I honestly don't even know what channel The Weather Channel is on my cable network lol.

Didn’t know that, I must have missed it. Different strokes for different Folks I guess, I enjoy the weather channel, always have. I don’t watch any news so what little TV I do catch is TWC and a movie or Discovery channel in the evening. I enjoy weather no matter where it’s at, our weather in Michigan is so boring and Stagnant most of the time I need to get my exciting weather fix somewhere, can’t look out my window at feet of snow like Chicago or New York people can.

2 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

Np, but yes that picture was taken today. Should have some epic snowmobile conditions next 2 weeks up in Michigan!

I’m sure you’re area will get some serious snow in the next couple weeks with the lake open and all this cold air coming in. Area’s to our west and east have really done well in the snow department lately compared to Michigan. I can’t remember the last time MI has had weather worthy enough for someone for the weather channel to visit for. Hopefully that will change and winter can finish up strong in its final 5 weeks or so.

11 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

Lakes are completely open for business.

Sorry Buffalo, was referring to Higgins lake, it’s a inland lake in northern lower MI. 

2 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

Lake Michigan still wide open for business very little ice if any pretty rare this time of year.

Was that Satellite pic from today? Looking closely I can see our lake, Higgins looks mostly open unless there hasn’t been any snow since it actually locked up a few days ago which now that I think about it is probably the case. Crazy Green Bay is still open that much also, with the wind direction expected to be mostly from the west this weekend north west lower around Petoskey and Harbor Springs should get hit pretty hard. We actually have to drive from Higgins to Harbor Springs Friday morning, that drive might be a little rough.

11 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

I always say average wouldn't be average if it was always above average lol. Just not been Michigan's winter so far. I will be going up to the Gaylord area in a few weeks, they have probably between 7-12" otg which is far better than much of the rest of northern MI. I would say Detroit is probably realistically one of the only areas that could pull off an above avg snow season if the 2nd half produces, due to a decent start DTW is only 4.5" below avg to date.  Many northern towns are so far below average that even a great run would leave them short in the end.

Gaylord had about 8” on the ground when we went through there Saturday, just north of there the snow really gets thin to the point that Indian River had maybe 3”. South of Gaylord to just north of West Branch had the deepest snow pack as of this weekend but I’m assuming that will change after we get some cold air and the lake effect gets going. Parts of the UP north of M28 are starting to get a decent snow pack finally, I know my cousins place north of Paradise had about 16-18” on the ground Sunday. Might want to consider heading that way Josh, the falls are awesome during the winter!

55 minutes ago, WI_SNOWSTORM said:

You are right on. There is maybe 10-12" on the WI/UP border right now. Worst snowmobile trails in years right now in Northern WI. 

We’ve had about 10”+ on the ground at our place in northern lower MI since December 12th,  pretty amazing considering how warm its been this winter. The state of MI as a whole has really missed out on the snow that’s been hitting states too our west and east this winter, we would most definitely win the most boring weather award I think easily. Happy for all you snow lover’s that’s been getting it lately though, enjoy. 

The lack of lake effect has really been amazing this year. I saw last night that Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs has only had 16” so far this season, last year at this time they had received over 80”. Wondering if the rubber band will ever snap back in the other direction or at this point is it just broke. 

3 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

Have about 13" OTG now, deepest of the season, starting to look like winter around here again for the LES Belts. 

This map clearly shows where the higher elevation areas are in northern lower. It’s been such a warm winter that the few degrees colder that the elevation provides makes a huge difference so far this winter.

48 minutes ago, dmc76 said:

Few more tenths over night put us slightly over 3”. Very nice surprise 

Wow that’s way more then what we got up here in northern St Clair county, maybe 1/2” over this way. I see your in Lakeville, I have always loved that area. It’s only 12 or so miles south west of where I live now but I’ve always thought that area was like being up north, lakes, hills, trees, I would love to have a small place on that lake. Definitely my favorite area in all of southeast MI, no question. 

8 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

Picked up about 5" overnight, looks like another 5-9"+ thru tomorrow.

Plus Thursday into Saturday morning should give you guys another good dumping it’s looking like. Sounds like it’s been extremely fluffy, like 20:1. That’s some fluff!

2 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

Cadillac as of this moment, will probably change after this week to somewhere around my area. 

Just north of West Branch to Just north of Houghton Lake had the deepest snow we saw when we drove home yesterday. We picked up a few fresh inches Friday night at Higgins Lake but just south of us got more. We now have about 10” on the ground at our place but just south of us to the south west has a few inches more then that right now. Snow wise around our place it’s been pretty decent considering areas not to far north and south of us have had quite a bit less. We have friends in Lakes of the north and they had to ride side x sides this weekend because of the lack of snow up there, we were fortunate enough to have another decent weekend of snowmobiling at our place. My gripe is the lack of cold air again this winter. Our lake still isn’t safe enough to ride out on completely, I ran out of ice Saturday morning while riding on it and had to turn around and head back to shore. We need cold air, simple as that and it will snow in the snow belts of Michigan. We’ve actually had a pretty good snowpack up there for over a month now considering how warm it’s been, there’s lots of moisture in it.  Looking like a few fresh inches of fluff this week that should only help build up the snow pack more.