The late season winter storm that had a major impact on the upper peninsula and much of northwest lower Michigan this weekend equated to Leelanau receiving well over two feet of snow in a matter of days.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) Maple City station, between Sunday and Monday, the area received 25.1 inches of snow. With an additional couple inches of lake effect snow associated with the storm observed on Monday, the total snowfall recorded from the winter storm event came in at 27.1 inches. The heights of snow drifts, depending on the location, varied throughout the county, but many local reports cited anywhere from two to fiveplus feet. The Maple City weather station has recorded approximately 154.1 inches of snow thus far this winter, about 10 inches more than the station’s average of 143.3 inches for a season.
While those in Leelanau and surrounding counties continued to dig themselves out of the storm’s accumulated snow Wednesday, the upper peninsula worked around the clock to do the same. NWS reports that the heaviest snowfall accumulation was recorded in the upper peninsula’s Alger County, located just south of Munising, where they received 52 inches of snow from the storm.
