Plow Extra Grant by Russell Sekeet
The possibly legendary southeast Michigan snowstorm fizzled, so in case you were fired up for it, here’s a “Throwback Thursday” to February 3, 2011. 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.
See more in his Michigan gallery on Flickr.
WWJ 950 Detroit shares that last winter Nick Schirripa of the Michigan Department of Transportation, “put some feelers out” on Twitter, asking for help naming Michigan’s snow plows. A year later, all 330 of Michigan’s snow plows have new names.
You can check the plows out in realtime on the M-DOT map. The only one I found out & about this morning was Blizzard T Snowplow, listed as “applying material” way up on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Other names include Alice Scooper & Gordie Plowe, movie references like Darth Blader & Han Snowlo, and even “Control, Salt, Delete” for computer nerds.
Bill got this shot along M-72 along the border of Leelanau & Grand Traverse Counties in northwest lower Michigan back in 2018. See more in his Pics from the Car gallery on Flickr.
shoutout to @hksbks on Twitter for the heads up!
Snowplowing Fontinalis road by Laurent Fady
Much of northern Michigan received its first winter storm yesterday. While it was only 4-8″, the heavy & wet snow coupled with winds picking up to 40+ should make it a busy day for our friends in the orange trucks!
Laurent took this back in February of 2018. See more in his Snow & Ice gallery on Flickr & also view & purchase prints on his website.
Please take care on the roads today everyone!
1930s Michigan Snowplow
With a major winter storm bearing down on Michigan, it seems like a good time to feature this old Department of Transportation video featuring winter fun & battling blizzards. MDOT relates:
This 1930s-era newsreel was recently discovered by sisters Nancy and Barbara Sleeper of Newberry, whose grandfather, Sanborn Sleeper, was the superintendent of the Luce County Road Commission from 1928 until sometime around World War II. The Sleepers donated the film to MDOT for public display. Enjoy this glimpse of the era when Murray Van Wagoner, a future Michigan governor, ran the department from 1933-1940.
1930s Snowplow, via Michigan Highway Department (now MDOT)
The Michigan Department of Transportation shared this awesome newsreel from the 1930s featuring all kinds of winter fun including ski jumping. Their predecessor, the Michigan Highway Department also used the video to talk up Michigan’s road system and winter road maintenance.
It was discovered by Nancy and Barbara Sleeper of Newberry, daughters of former Luce County Road Commission superintendent Sanborn Sleeper, and it’s super awesome!
Michigan in Pictures 