“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.“
-Charles Dickens
…and it is also winter in the UP! While rains are expected to wash much of the snow from Michigan today, mLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa shares that the National Weather Service is predicting 10-15″ of snow for areas of the Upper Peninsula including as much as TWO FEET of snow for the western UP!
twurdemann shares that this incredible winter wonderland is created by freezing spray/mist from the waterfall at Michigan’s Tahquamenon Falls State Park & the brown tannins in the water. Check out more in their Winter gallery on Flickr that includes some KNOCKOUT ice cave photos from the Canadian shore of Lake Superior!
With full honor & respect to the absolutely brutal temps across Michigan this morning, here are some sweet photos from a series that Bill took on February 1st at Fennville’s Pier Cove Park. There’s even a shot of a sundog in one of the photos!
One of my favorite things about Michigan in Pictures is seeing some of the incredible cameras people are using.
One man who has some sweet gear is Kirt E. Carter and he has been bringing some incredible Hasselblad pics to the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr for the better part of a decade. I figured today was a good day to bring attention to his amazing work. The large one below of icicles on the Eagle Harbor shoreline – see more in the Hasselblad search in the Absolute Michigan group & for sure head over to his website to view & purchase his work!
A winter storm watch is usually issued when a storm system is one to two days from starting. This long lead time is used to help you get ready if you have to make travel or work changes. Eventually as the storm gets closer, the winter storm watch either turns to a winter storm warning or a winter weather advisory.
The map above shows how the large winter storm watch area earlier today has been fine-tuned to mostly winter weather advisories. A winter storm watch still exists for the Thumb and northeast shoreline until the next round of data shows which way to go on the watch. There should be some lake enhancement of the snow totals in the Thumb and northeast shoreline, possibly putting those areas over the six inch winter storm warning criteria.
Latest revision (3:26 p.m. Tuesday) of the winter storm watch to mostly winter weather advisories in purple. There still is a waiting game with the winter storm watch in blue for the Thumb, Oakland county, Macomb County and the northeast shoreline. image by NOAA
Total snow forecast from the North American Model (NAM) through Thursday afternoon.NOAA
Lee shared this photo of Holstein cattle on an Amish farm riding out a winter snowstorm in Mecosta County to the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr last January. When I did a quick Google search because I had forgotten if Lee was a he or a she, I realized that he had a lot more photos in excellent essay entitled FALLING SNOW: A Landscape Transformed on his blog:
When I see snow falling, dissolving the landscape into a place entirely different, I am enthralled by the veiled look of the land. Every surface is softened and sounds are muffled and most people have retreated indoors. The familiar is transformed.
The pictures in this photographic essay were taken near my Michigan home, where I love to venture into the heaviest snow squalls, finding barns and forests transformed by the falling snow. I am fortunate to live near an Amish community, where their barns and buggies and homes are often featured in my winter photography. Enjoy the photographs, and find a new appreciation for winter.
mLive’s Mark Torregrossa shares that the winter storm bearing down on Michigan overnight is expected to bring a solid band of freezing rain from Jackson to Ann Arbor to Detroit and south to Michigan’s southern border that could have up to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation. Based on radar, the iciness will be worst from 4am – 9am Thursday
Mike captured this great shot of a mail truck delivering in Port Huron on a winter day with a Nikon Zfc & TTArtisan 50mm Tilt shift lens 1.4. I hadn’t heard of this lens befor which the manufacturer says transforms ordinary scenes into captivating ‘Lilliput’ landscapes with selective focus and beautiful bokeh.
Our friends at the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association share: And now for something completely different: A new initiative to highlight the problem of potholes. Lighthouses are being trialled at night to warn unsuspecting motorists.
I don’t think the lighthouse above is based on a Michigan one, so here’s a shot of Point Betsie on Lake Michigan GLLKA shared recently by Ross Ellet! More funny business on Michigan in Pictures.
Most of the photos on Michigan in Pictures are by other people, but sometimes on Fridays I like to share my own. These are from the Lake Michigan shore in Leland from late January 2017. Follow me here for more pics and for sure feel welcome to support me & Michigan in Pictures through Patreon donations!
“This snowy week is nearly at an end, including a visit from real Arctic air, and many towns near Lake Michigan and Lake Superior got a foot or two of fresh snow as a result,” the NWS said. “Clearly, the vast majority of snow was a result of lake effect, as plenty of other parts of Michigan only saw an inch or two at best.”
Air temperatures in Michigan fell below zero Jan. 18-22. In some cases, the thermometer didn’t read above zero for two days. The coldest reading in the state came Monday night when Stambaugh, in the western UP, registered minus 30 — before wind chill. The town also saw minus 28 on Tuesday night while Ironwood’s NWS observer recorded minus 27.
You can see that the conditions have also piled up shoreline ice in these pictures that Mark took over the weekend at Lincoln Township Beach just north of Grand Mere State Park. Here are some more recent ones and a shot from summer of 2016 below. More in Mark’s 2025 gallery on Flickr!
Gustafson’s Smoked Fish shared this photo yesterday from their Facebook as they closed due to generally horrible conditions. They are open again today & located about a half hour west of the Mackinac Bridge on US-2 along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. The family has been making and selling smoked fish, jerky & cheese curds for nearly 50 years, and they have always been one of my favorite post-Bridge stops!
Now here’s a shot of their delicious salmon. If anyone is driving past do you mind picking up a couple pounds for me?
Michigan in Pictures 