Leaping in a Winter Wonderland, photo by karstenphoto
Today is Michigan’s 176th birthday. For the 175th birthday last year we compiled some fun facts that you can check out. Here’s hoping that you get a chance to get out and celebrate what Michigan has to offer this weekend!
If you’re staying warm inside, consider reading about Michigan’s statehood and associated documents at Seeking Michigan.
Check Steven’s photo out big as Michigan and see this and more winter fun in his winter slideshow.
Winter 2011 – Lake Ice, photo by danbruell
The Great Lakes Echo reports that:
A composite map of the Great Lakes produced by NOAA’s CoastWatch organization shows near-historic low ice coverage across the region.
The map, known as the Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis, is a composite of data taken from NOAA satellites orbiting the earth’s poles and radar scans of the lakes by the National Ice Center. The resulting image shows surface water temperature and ice coverage, important data for region scientists, fishermen and boaters. The map’s data is updated daily.
“Previously, the lowest ice coverage year was 2002,” CoastWatch manager George Leshkevich said. “2012 came very close to 2002, and this year is looking very similar to last year.”
Lack of ice cover leads to increased water evaporation, a serious concern in light of already-low lake levels.
You can read more about last year’s ice cover and impacts on Absolute Michigan.
Check Dan’s photo out background bigtacular and see more in his Lake Ice slideshow.
More winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!
Winter Driving, photo by p912s (Scot)
On Absolute Michigan we just updated a feature on the Winter Driving School offered at Michigan Tech. It has some great tips and a very nice video that can help to make you a better winter driver today – click here to check it out!
Check this out background big and see more in Scot’s Winter slideshow.
I Love Ice_0746, photo by Mike Hainstock
As long as it’s not under my tires, I love ice too.
Check this photo out on black and see more in Mike’s spectacular ice slideshow which includes some photos from the soon-to-form Eben Ice Caves.
More ice on Michigan in Pictures.
Snow Bound, photo by siskokid
Some of the first snows of the 2012-2013 winter have visited Michigan, so it’s probably a good time to have a look at what Old Man Winter might have up his sleeve this winter. The Winter 2013 forecast from “Caleb Weatherbee”* of the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a split in the nation’s weather with warmer and drier conditions in the West and cold & snow in the East & Midwest. The Freep takes a closer look at the winter forecast saying:
In a forecast sure to delight Michigan’s snow sport industries, the almanac is predicting plenty of snow, with temperatures 2 to 4 degrees colder than average. It estimates the first snow will come Nov. 7 in some parts of the Great Lakes — and a major storm of up to 8 inches will blast the Great Lakes on Jan. 20-23.
So far, so good I guess. While I’m not a meteorologist, it seems like warm, dry air in the west and colder, wetter air in the east could make for some exciting weather for Michigan. Someone who is a meteorologist is Dr. Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground. In his interesting and informative Forecast for Winter 2012-2013, Jeff notes that NOAA’s predictions suggest the same warmer & drier conditions for the west (with a wider area covered). He walks through the many factors that can affect winter weather, ultimately concluding:
I’m often asked by friends and neighbors what my forecast for the coming winter is, but I tell them to flip a coin, or catch some woolley bear caterpillars for me so I can count their stripes and make a woolley bear winter forecast (this year’s Woolley Worm Festival in Banner Elk, North Carolina is this weekend, so we’ll know then what the official Woolley Worm winter forecast is.) Making an accurate winter forecast is very difficult, as the interplay between El Niño, the AO/NAO, the AMO, Arctic sea ice loss, and the 11-year sunspot cycle is complex and poorly understood. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected and unprecedented from our weather over the past few winters; perhaps the most unexpected thing would be a very average winter during 2012 – 2013.
View this photo on black and see more in Jim’s 50+ Faves slideshow.
*FYI, Caleb Weatherbee is the official forecaster for the Farmers’ Almanac. His name is actually a pseudonym that has been passed down & shared by generations of Almanac prognosticators.
Chipping Ice on the City of Flint, photo by Captain John Meissner
Wikipedia explains that the Armistice Day Blizzard struck November 11 (Armistice Day) and November 12, 1940. The intense early-season “Panhandle hook” winter storm cut a 1,000-mile-wide path through the middle of the country from Kansas to Michigan. Carferries.com has a great article on The Armistice Day Storm of 1940 that begins:
The “storm” of November 11, 1940 was one of the worst storms in the recorded history of Lake Michigan. In all, the storm claimed 5 vessels, and 66 lives. The storm occurred on Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I in 1918.
The storm hit late Monday afternoon, November 11th, with winds of hurricane proportions. The winds struck suddenly from the southwest at about 2:30 P.M. and were accompanied by drenching rain, which later changed to snow. The winds reached peak velocities of 75 miles per hour, the highest in local maritime history. Telephone and power lines were down by the hundreds around Mason County. Several local firms had “gaping” holes where roofs once were. Trees were uprooted, small buildings were overturned, and brick walls were toppled, causing at least 1 serious injury. Very few places escaped without damage. Ludington, on the morning of November 12th, appeared to be a deserted city.
The Pere Marquette carferry City of Flint 32, attempted to make the harbor but wound up on the beach about 300 yards from the shore. She was ordered by her relief captain, Jens Vevang, to be scuttled to avoid being pounded by the incoming seas. On November 12th, a breeches buoy was strung and 27 year old crewman Ernest Delotowski of 406 First Street, Ludington, was brought ashore. Delatowski made a good portion of the trip in the icy waters of Lake Michigan. As a precautionary measure, he was taken to Paulina Stearns Hospital and was released later that day. He said he carried a message with him, but it got lost in the water. Later the buoy was used to carry a message to the ship, and then crewman Luther Ryder of S. Washington Avenue (Ludington) was brought ashore.
You can read more including first-hand recollections of the storm and also see more photos taken by Captain John Meissner and also photos of the grounding and other wrecks as a result of the storm at carferries.com.
More shipwrecks on Michigan in Pictures.
Parked for the Season, photo by Rudy Malmquist
Jennifer Kalish of the Great Lakes Echo writes that our summer heat could produce more winter snow:
The record high temperatures this summer could mean some Great Lakes coastal residents will get buried in snow this winter.
“There’s certainly a lot of evidence to suggest that we will go into this fall with warmer than normal lake temperatures,” said Jeff Andresen, state climatologist for Michigan. “That could lead to an increase in the amount of lake-effect precipitation we see, but it isn’t certain.”
Lake-effect snow happens when cold dry air that moves south over Canada meets the warm waters of the Great Lakes, Andresen said.
The cold air picks up moisture as the warm water evaporates from the lake, forms into clouds and then dumps snow onto nearby cities and towns, Andresen said. The greater the difference in temperature between the warm water and cold air, the more snow will fall.
That means the warm summer is only part of the recipe for lots of lake-effect snow.
Check this photo out bigger and see more in Rudy’s snow slideshow.
“The drips of water falling from above created wonderful echoes and added to the cave atmosphere. There is much variation of color and texture to the ice in different parts of the cave. Some formations were smooth and clear, others were bumpy and hollow-sounding, and there were some columns that looked like dripping candle wax.”
~Nina Asunto on being inside the Eben Ice Caves
This may be the latest I have ever posted a Michigan in Pictures. Busy, busy I guess.
Nina took this photo at the Eben Ice Caves, which are a very popular subject on Michigan in Pictures. In Monday’s Daily Michigan email (which I think you might enjoy as it is Not Too Terribly Long and also Filled With Michigan Stuff & Giveaways) we featured Nina’s video from these seasonally forming caves in the Rock River Canyon Wilderness Area.
Nona has a great blog called Black Coffee at Sunrise with writing and photos from some of Michigan’s coolest places, and her Eben Ice Caves feature is a must-read. View her photo as big as you like and see her other shots and the video in her Eben Ice Caves 2012 slideshow.
PS: Separated at birth?
Snow Storm Traverse City, Michigan, photo by Pamela Bevelhymer.
While the winter of 2012 has been one of the mildest in Michigan history, the month of March has come in like Ndamukong Suh, dumping over 2 feet of snow in some spots and knocking out power for 250,000+ Michiganders!
Today on Absolute Michigan we posted Five Things You Need to Know about Michigan snowstorms that has the details about this and other snowstorms in Michigan.
Check this photo from Traverse City out bigger and see more in Pamela’s Michigan slideshow.
Plow Extra Grant, photo by amtrak_russ.
March roared into Michigan a (leap) day early, dumping up to 16 inches of snow in parts of the UP. The Lansing State Journal reports that while the UP was buried, southern Michigan was boiling:
The National Weather Service says 10 to 16 inches fell in the Iron Mountain area, while the Ironwood area got up to 14 inches and the Menominee area up to 13 inches.
Icy road conditions were reported in parts of the southern Lower Peninsula early Wednesday, but warm winds pushed highs to spring-like levels. The weather service says Three Rivers hit 64 degrees, Kalamazoo 63, and Coldwater and South Haven 62.
The rules of folk wisdom dictate that with such a ferocious beginning, the month will end lamb gentle … but is that only for folks in the UP?
About this photo from last year Russell writes Marquette Rail ran a plow extra after the 2011 blizzard that dropped over 2 feet of snow and 50+ MPH winds. Here it is seen busting through the crossing in downtown Grant. Check it out bigger and in his Trains 2011 slideshow.
There’s a yard-full of trains on Michigan in Pictures!
Michigan in Pictures 
