Much of the Midwest experienced an arctic cold outbreak and a prolonged period of falling and blowing snow during the last few days of January. More than a foot of snow fell across parts of Lower Michigan with wind chills from -20 to -40 F. The combination of the extreme cold and snow led to dangerous and life-threatening travel conditions across the state closing schools and businesses for a number of days. Additionally, numerous car pile-ups led to the closure of many area roadways, highways, and interstates. The remarkable longevity of the cold and snowy conditions combined with the sheer number of impacts from school, business, and road closures will surely make the end of January 2019 remembered for years. 

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A typical scene across Lower Michigan during the cold and snow event with low visibility due to blowing snow. Photo taken on 1/29/2019 in the Grand Rapids area. 

From February 6 to 7, two rounds of freezing rain impacted western Lower Michigan with the heaviest ice accumulations across Muskegon, Kent, Ionia, and Montcalm counties. Two-day total ice accumulations of greater than 1/2 an inch were common in the hardest-hit areas downing thousands of tree branches.  Over 150,000 customers lost power due to the ice storm.  Owing to the extensive tree debris, it took as long as five days to restore power in the worst-impacted areas. 

Image Caption: Downed tree limbs in rural Kent County. (NWS Survey)

In early February 2019, a large ice jam formed on the Grand River just north of the town of Portland and remained for much of the month. Highly localized but prolonged flooding occurred over the Bogue Flats Recreation Area, along North Water Street, and in homes and businesses immediately along the river. Bridges across the Grand River were closed at times due to fear of the ice compromising the integrity of the structures. The ice also destroyed a USGS river gauge upstream of Portland. 

Jammed ice on the Grand River as seen in downtown Portland (NWS Survey). 

On June 1, 2019, two rounds of severe thunderstorms went through western Lower Michigan.  The first round brought damaging winds to Mason County, especially around Ludington, and quarter (1.00") to golf ball (1.75") size to Jackson county.  The second round brought significant large hail as large as baseballs (2.75") to the Battle Creek and surrounding areas as well as sporadic wind damage across Allegan, Barry, and Eaton counties. Outside of the worst weather, pea to penny (0.25-0.75") size hail was reported across much of western Lower Michigan throughout the day. 

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Baseball (2.75") size hail that fell in Battle Creek during the evening of June 1st, 2019.  (Photo courtesy of Jadon Carrasco). 

During the early morning hours of July 20, 2019, a line of severe storms raced southeast across Lower Michigan downing trees and power lines. Numerous wind gusts of 60-70 mph were measured as the line went through Muskegon, Ottawa, and Kent counties. Stronger winds estimated near 80 mph severely damaged a home in Jenison and snapped trees in Cascade. Around 150,000 people lost power due to the storms with over 50,000 people in Kent county, alone.

Additional thunderstorms developed after sunrise in Mason and Lake counties and remained stationary for several hours.  Radar-estimated rainfall amounts ranged from 8 to 12 inches in the hardest-hit locations leading to widespread areal flooding and road closures. A new state record 24-hour rainfall was measured in Branch Township (Mason County) where 12.92 inches of rain fell due to the storms. 

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Damage to a home in Jenison after a line of severe storms moved through western Lower Michigan during the early morning hours of July 20th, 2019 (NWS Damage Survey)

During the evening hours of August 29, 2019, strong to severe storms moved across Lower Michigan and produced hail as large as tennis balls (2.5" in diameter), damaging winds of 55 to 80 mph, heavy rain with rain rates in excess of 2 inches per hour, and copious amounts of lightning. In fact, there were more than 13,000 cloud to ground strikes and 40,000 in-cloud flashes within an 8 hour period as the storms rolled through. Several storms also carried low-level rotation with dramatic wall clouds with one tornado touching down in Shiawassee County in eastern Michigan. 

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Rotating wall cloud seen near Grant (Image courtesy of Cameron Nixon)

During the afternoon and evening hours of September 11, strong to severe storms moved across western Lower Michigan. A ~50 mile swath of damage occurred from Walker to Lake Odessa with uprooted and snapped trees and numerous power outages due to estimated 65 to 80 MPH winds. A more concentrated area of damage was found in Grand Rapids especially east of US-131, where wind gusts locally approached 100 mph.  Along the entire swath, there was little evidence of lofted debris which would be typical of tornadoes, though brief swirls likely occurred in the swath. Earlier in the day, hail as large as ping pong balls (1.5") in diameter and scattered wind damage was reported across Newaygo and Montcalm counties. 

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Extensive debris caused by the complete removal of a roof from a nearby apartment building in the Belknap Lookout neighborhood of north Grand Rapids (NWS Damage Survey)

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, a storm system brought high winds and large waves to the West Michigan lakeshore. Wind gusts topped 50 mph and waves grew to more than 10 feet in height, downing trees along the lakeshore and causing significant beach and sand dune erosion.  In the hardest hit areas mainly from Grand Haven southward, 10 to 20 feet of dune bluff was eroded in a 12 hour period due to the combination of near-record Lake Michigan water levels, a 1-foot "surge" water rise, and large waves. Additionally, water due to waves crashing onshore as well as water pushed back into river channels flooded roads, parks, and parking lots - especially in Muskegon, Saugatuck, and South Haven. 

A second storm system impacted the lakeshore on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 with 50 mph wind gusts and 10 ft waves.  Unlike the storm earlier in the week, this storm was worst from Grand Haven northward where more than 10 feet of dune bluff was eroded in a 24 hour period due to the combination of near-record Lake Michigan water levels and large waves.  

Another storm system on Wednesday, November 27, 2019 brought frequent wind gusts of 45 to 59 mph to much of the lakeshore, and another round of high waves and erosion.

The three storms led to considerable erosion of the lakeshore rivaling impacts felt in 1986 when Lake Michigan water levels were at record high. 

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Significant dune erosion at North Beach Park in Grand haven (NWS Survey)

An early season snowstorm and lake effect snow impacted the western Great Lakes from Monday, November 11 to Tuesday, November 12. Snow accumulations of 3-8" were common along the I-96 and I-94 corridors with totals measured in feet in the lake effect snow belts. Record-breaking cold temperatures followed on Tuesday enabling wind chills to drop into the single digits.  While such snow totals and cold temperatures are not uncommon in Michigan during the winter months, experiencing such conditions in early November is unusual. 

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Hefty snow totals in Bangor after the event. (Photo courtesy of Greg Myrkle). 

On December 15, the calendar year precipitation, which includes rain and melted snow or ice, reached 48.81 inches at Grand Rapids marking 2019 as the wettest calendar year on record!  The previous record was 48.80 inches set in 2008, with the period of record starting in 1892. In September through October, 14.45 inches of precipitation fell (the wettest September-October combined) helping push 2019 close to the record mark.

The record-high precipitation for the year is just one symptom of the recent 5-year period for Michigan being the wettest 5 years on record, which is largely responsible for the high water levels on Lake Michigan.  

Modeled soil moisture content (%) across Michigan from the Coupled Routing and Excess Storage (CREST) hydrologic model captured on December 15th, 2019. The large area >90 % indicates nearly saturated soil, suggestive of a very wet pattern and indeed the wet year in much of West Michigan.