The Dexes / Winter Storm, Blizzard & Heavy Snow / 5683587
Eventdex · Winter Storm, Blizzard & Heavy Snow
MASON
5683587
The record
Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.
| Event typeevent_type | Winter Weather |
|---|---|
| NOAA NCEI event IDncei_event_id | 5,683,587 |
| Episode IDepisode_id | 1,501,962 |
| Begin UTCbegin_utc | 1999-01-04T05:00:00+00:00 |
| End UTCend_utc | 1999-01-05T01:00:00+00:00 |
| Statestate | MICHIGAN |
| County/zone typecz_type | Z |
| County/zone namecz_name | MASON |
| Deaths directdeaths_direct | 0 |
| Deaths indirectdeaths_indirect | 0 |
| Injuries directinjuries_direct | 0 |
| Injuries indirectinjuries_indirect | 0 |
| Weather forecast office sourcewfo_source | NWS STORM SURVEY |
| Episode narrativeepisode_narrative | Widely scattered lake effect snow showers continued through the day, accompanied by continued blowing and drifting of snow. However, snow was not nearly as heavy as on the 2nd and 3rd, and most of the heavy snow on the 4th occurred across the lakeshore counties. Overall, this winter storm ended up being one of the strongest to affect western lower Michigan in 2 decades, and came to be known as the "Blizzard of '99". Several areas of low pressure began to consolidate just to the northwest of Amarillo, Texas, on the morning of January 1st. By the early morning hours of January 2nd, the low had intensified and moved to the western Tennessee Valley Snow and very strong east to southeast winds preceded the system across lower Michigan. A deep upper level trough was carved out over the nations mid section, and an upper level low was centered over the Plains states. All of southern lower Michigan was affected by blizzard conditions at times on January 2nd. Snow began in the morning and continued through the afternoon, making travel difficult to impossible. Wind gusts of 45 to as high as 65 mph in Muskegon (Muskegon County) produced sporadic power outages, mainly along the lakeshore, and occasional whiteout conditions. By the evening hours of the 2nd, 6 to 12 inches of snow had already fallen across southwest and west central lower Michigan, with both Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties reporting up to a foot of new snow by 10 pm. The surface low pressure system continued to intensify and move to the north northeast over Indiana, and on up into Michigan, and was centered near Gaylord, in northern lower Michigan, by the morning of the 3rd. The upper level low deepened as well, and drifted very slowly to the east over Wisconsin. Thus began the second phase of the snowstorm across western lower Michigan, marked by bands of heavy lake effect snow, and continued blowing and drifting. The snow continued through the 3rd and 4th, and even lingered into the early morning hours of the 5th before finally tapering to flurries. Travel through the period ranged from difficult to impossible, due to all the blowing and drifting of snow, and occasional whiteout conditions. Some snow drifts measured to 5 to 6 feet in open rural areas. Roads became impassable and many highways and rural roads were closed through the 4th. There were several car accidents through the period. Most schools were closed, some for over a week in rural areas. Most colleges and universities, as well as quite a few area businesses, were closed on the 4th and 5th as well. The following is a list of final snow storm total snowfalls for the 2nd through the 5th:35 inches in Grand Haven (Ottawa County), 28 inches in Holland (Allegan County), 25 inches in Bloomingdale (Van Buren County), 25 inches in Glenn (Allegan County), 24 inches at the Kalamazoo Nature Center (Kalamazoo County), 23 inches in Grandville (Kent County), 22 inches in Grand Rapids (Kent County), 22 inches in Wayland (Allegan County), 19 inches in Hastings (Barry County), 18 inches in Sparta (Kent County), 18 inches at Gull Lake (Kalamazoo County), 16 inches at Watervliet (Van Buren County), 16 inches in Jackson (Jackson County), 16 inches in Ionia (Ionia County), 16 inches in Newaygo (Newaygo County), 16 inches at Hesperia (Oceana/Newaygo County), 16 inches in Ludington (Mason County), 14 inches at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (Kalamazoo County), 14 inches in Big Rapids (Mecosta County), 14 inches across Osceola County, 13 inches in St. Johns (Clinton County), 13 inches in Battle Creek (Calhoun County), 13 inches in Pentwater (Oceana County), 13 inches across Lake County, 12 inches in Eaton Rapids (Eaton County), 12 inches in Lansing (Ingham County), 12 inches in Vestaburg (Montcalm/Gratiot County), and 12 inches across Clare and Isabella Counties. |
| Yearyear | 1,999 |
Provenance
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Storage: spine