Snow Across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast; Unsettled Weather in the West

Light to moderate snow will continue into Saturday over the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast. This weekend into next week, a series of atmospheric rivers will bring gusty winds, periods of heavy rain, and mountain snow to northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Colder temperatures are in store for the weekend from the Great Lakes to East Coast. Read More >

Overview of the Heavy Lake Effect Snow Event January 5-6, 2022

A "clipper" system moved from west to east across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Lower Michigan Tuesday January 5 through Thursday January 7. The system dropped a couple inches of snow across Upper Michigan.

However, the big story was the persistent moderate to heavy lake effect snow in western and northern Upper Michigan with this system. The system slowed down as it passed by to the south, and extended a trough back to its west across the U.P., which allowed north wind lake effect snow to persist for nearly 48 hours.

This persistent lake effect snow resulted in impressive snowfall totals in parts of Marquette and Baraga Counties, as well as around Ironwood. This storm yielded the biggest 2-day snow total for the Marquette County highlands in nearly 3 years (Feb 2019). Snow totals of 24-28 inches were observed in the higher terrain of central Marquette County as well as just north of Ironwood. Meanwhile, some parts of the U.P. which did not see any lake effect snow from this system saw as little as 2 inches total.

Storm Total Snowfall

Click here for a complete list of snowfall reports from this storm

Photos
Meteorology
Social Media Messaging

Photos


Snowed-in cars at Fox Negaunee, courtesy of Jerry Taylor	Snow timelapse from Negaunee, courtesy of Holden Meyering	Deep snow in Negaunee, courtesy of Scott Bartle	Snowed-in cars in Negaunee from NWS Marquette WCM Matt Zika

Deep snow in Ishpeming, courtesy of Diane Schmitt	Deep snow in L'Anse Township, courtesy of Wayne Joki	Two feet of snow in Palmer, courtesy of Heidi Bray	This pup is doing his best braving the snow and cold! Photo courtesy of Amber Marie Pleaugh

Meteorology of this Storm

Maps showing parameters that describe lake effect snow.
Top left: the temperature difference between the surface of Lake Superior and the air about 1.5 km above it. A general rule of thumb is that at least a 13 C difference is needed to support pure lake effect snow. However, differences as low as 8 C can support lake enhancement of snow that already exists.
Top right: mean relative humidity in approximately the lowest 3 km of the atmosphere
Bottom left: mean wind convergence in the lowest ~1.5 km of the atmosphere. Lake effect bands form where the wind converges leading to rising air.
Bottom right: instability (shaded) and upward motion (contoured). Lake effect snow bands feed off of the instability generated by cold air over the relatively warm water surface.


12 am EST Jan 5, 2022	6 am EST Jan 5, 2022	6 pm EST Jan 5, 2022	6 am EST Jan 6, 2022	6 pm EST Jan 6, 2022

Maps showing mean sea level pressure in black contours and radar reflectivity in shades of blue and green.
Note the inverted trough that hangs back to the west after the initial low departs to the east. This inverted trough is what caused this to be such a long-duration lake effect snow event. It is denoted with a yellow dashed line in the last three images.


12 am EST Jan 5, 2022	6 am EST Jan 5, 2022	6 pm EST Jan 5, 2022	6 am EST Jan 6, 2022	6 pm EST Jan 6, 2022

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Weather Story Monday morning showing the probability of 4 inches or more of snow	Weather Story Tuesday morning with forecast amounts only through Wednesday evening	Update Tuesday evening as snow was about to begin, still only with amounts through Wednesday evening

Update Wednesday morning with the entire storm total now forecast	Update Wednesday evening showing snow was mostly done in most of the U.P., but would continue into the next day in the lake effect belts	Update Thursday evening as snow was finally winding down, although heavier snow would persist into Friday morning in a few localized bands

Snow Across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast; Unsettled Weather in the West

Review of the January 5-6, 2022 Heavy Lake Effect Snow