Ice has started to build along the Lake Michigan coast in Leelanau County.
According to the National Weather Service, ice has covered over 21% of the past week and frozen above its long-term average.
The recent cold and snowy snap has put Leelanau County under a thick crust of snow, with over 70 inches expected to fall on the region before the end of January, according to the National Weather Service.
The January record was 95.8” in 2014. Parts of Traverse City and Leelanau County sits 30 inches over the yearly average as of press time, with more expected to fall.
According to the National Weather Service, Traverse City has 88.3 inches to date, with six or more inches of snow on the ground for over 40 days so far this winter.
With the cold front, the weather will remain in the low single digits to negative.
“The coldest days are going to be Thursday and Friday, honestly, it started yesterday (Jan. 28),” Gaylord National Weather Service meteorologist Sean Christensen said. “You’re going to have near-zero temperatures with the windchills.”
Christensen added that over the weekend, it could reach as low as -10 for at least a couple of hours.
Sunday, Feb. 1, is when temperatures will start climbing into the 20s, with a high of 25 degrees, for the warmest weather in a couple of weeks.
Monday and Tuesday will remain similar, with Monday’s high at 26 degrees, while Tuesday will hover around 23 degrees.
Road Commission crews haven’t had a sunny 2026, as plow drivers wrap up a snowy and cold January.
The lake effect snow has been firing on all cylinders across the Leelanau Peninsula.
“It’ll be blowing here and sunny over there, back-and-forth across the county,” Leelanau County Road Commissioner Manager Brendan Mullane said. “The wind has been making the sight distance driving or visibility very poor.”
Temperatures hovered around zero degrees over the weekend.
At around 15 degrees, salt has lost most of its effectiveness, which is one of many reasons why the road commission uses a 5-to-1 sand-to-salt ratio.
“In these cold temperatures, the mixture helps add some grip. We are not trying to melt the snow at that point,” Mullane said. “We are trying to add some traction ... honestly, with the way it’s blowing and snowing, we are not putting a ton of that down either, just because it gets covered up again. As soon as you drive by, it blows right over. We will still put some material down, but not nearly as frequently.”
Mullane said the hardest part of the day for plow drivers is managing the snow drifts. Mullane reports some issues with the newer equipment that had to be returned to the dealership once or twice.
“Drivers are playing whack-amole with them. That’s really all they can do while keeping everything else in between open,” he said. “(The plow trucks) are definitely getting their baptism this winter with use.”
Since Thanksgiving weekend, the Leelanau County Road Commission, has had at least one plow truck on the road every day, except for one day since Thanksgiving.
“These guys have been driving a lot, working very hard with no breaks. I appreciate them doing that,” Mullane said.
