March 2023 General Discussion

[sbnwx85]

Just watched a wall snow falling on one side of the street while I was dry and it quickly advance to my side of the street. Actually one of the coolest weather phenomena I’ve ever seen!

[weatherbo]

1 hour ago, beavis1729 said:

Nice…what are your normals for today, around 35/20?

MQT norms are 36/16.  Today tho the high temp was only 15 in Negaunee and with the record low max for the date being 19, that record will fall. 

In many ways March feels more like a winter month than December up this way... Cold is entrenched and snow is deep.

Snow and wind winding down but it got real nasty there for a while with some blizzard-like conditions.  As of 5 pm MQT's 2 day total is 12.8" ( sle .84).  210.5" for the season... around 10" above normal for the entire season and on average they'll see 30 inches more of snow.

 

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, weatherbo said:

MQT norms are 36/16.  Today tho the high temp was only 15 in Negaunee and with the record low max for the date being 19, that record will fall. 

In many ways March feels more like a winter month than December up this way... Cold is entrenched and snow is deep.

Snow and wind winding down but it got real nasty there for a while with some blizzard-like conditions.  As of 5 pm MQT's 2 day total is 12.8" ( sle .84).  210.5" for the season... around 10" above normal for the entire season and on average they'll see 30 inches more of snow.

 

Oh 100% March is deeper winter than December in the UP. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and Winter is my favorite season, so it's a no brainer that snow during the holidays is high on my list. However, I can't ever get used to the general public's fascination with snow at Christmas then wanting spring by new years. Obviously December is usually wintry, but there are a few things that could go wrong. It could be cold and suppressed and there has been times there's deeper snow in southern MI than up North. Or it could be a horrible warm start to Winter with shoddy conditions. But no matter what happens during the winter you can count on deep snow in late february and early march, usually the deepest of the entire winter. That's why my winter trips are always mid to late Feb.

[weatherbo]

17 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

Oh 100% March is deeper winter than December in the UP. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and Winter is my favorite season, so it's a no brainer that snow during the holidays is high on my list. However, I can't ever get used to the general public's fascination with snow at Christmas then wanting spring by new years. Obviously December is usually wintry, but there are a few things that could go wrong. It could be cold and suppressed and there has been times there's deeper snow in southern MI than up North. Or it could be a horrible warm start to Winter with shoddy conditions. But no matter what happens during the winter you can count on deep snow in late february and early march, usually the deepest of the entire winter. That's why my winter trips are always mid to late Feb.

Have you considered doing your trips in March?  At least around here, March is the snowpack peak usually.

[SchaumburgStormer]

Down in Will Co today, some legit snow squalls. Top 5 event 

[Stebo]

Had on and off snow squalls all day down here, and we have been around 20-25 all day. A very raw day for Mid March.

[Stebo]

Average for today is 46/29 we were 33 at midnight and have gone down to 22 currently. Our max daytime temperature has been only 27.

[OrdIowPitMsp]

High of 27 today. That March sunshine sure feels good. 
 

MSP recorded 0.5” of snow today, mostly in the overnight hours bringing the season total to 81.3”

[cyclone77]

11 years ago today the high was 83 degrees at MLI.  Today their high was 24. 

[michsnowfreak]

Picked up 0.2" of snow today. 15.5" in March, 37.1" season.  DTW had 0.1", so 15.8" March and 37.0" season.

 

It was definitely an interesting day with the in and out squalls in the sky looking ominous as the sun would come out.

[michsnowfreak]

3 hours ago, weatherbo said:

Have you considered doing your trips in March?  At least around here, March is the snowpack peak usually.

Yes. I've done it a few times in March (2008, 2019). Especially with our run of snowy Februarys at home (this year notwithstanding) I've been thinking a lot about March. The problem is, its an annual trip that I take with my mom who is a fellow snow lover and her love of snow starts to wane in March lol. When my dad was alive he would join as well and he did not like Winter to begin with. So february was always the best choice. Maybe next year I'll take a solo trip in March in addition to my family trip. 

[bowtie`]

Second morning in a row of white sidewalks and pavement. So close to Spring but old man Winter is not going out without a bit of a tussle. Also 18 degrees is still a bit too chilly for my taste.

[RogueWaves]

For those tracking:

000
NWUS53 KGRR 191116
LSRGRR

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
716 AM EDT SUN MAR 19 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0700 AM     SNOW             EAST GRAND RAPIDS       42.95N 85.61W
03/19/2023  M4.5 INCH        KENT               MI   CO-OP OBSERVER

            APPROXIMATELY A 30 HOUR TOTAL. SNOW
            CONTAINED 0.23 INCHES WATER. SNOW SEASON
            TOTAL NOW 114.1 INCHES.

[OrdIowPitMsp]

Got down to 7 here again last night. Should have a solid recovery to around 40 today. 

[RogueWaves]

9 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

Picked up 0.2" of snow today. 15.5" in March, 37.1" season.  DTW had 0.1", so 15.8" March and 37.0" season.

 

It was definitely an interesting day with the in and out squalls in the sky looking ominous as the sun would come out.

Great January day! (smh) 

First March afternoon high below freezing. First LES (0.2) since 1/27. Total up to 32.9" for here and that bumps my seasonal LES to an even 4.5" (15.6% of my total). I'm ok if we bust out some warmth tbh. Single digit WC's this time of year suck!

[cyclone77]

Vis showing where some of the heaviest squalls took place yesterday.

 

[Cary67]

[weatherbo]

6 for the overnight low with fresh snow otg.  Should reach the mid-30's today with full sun.  Will take advantage of the warm sun and clear snow.

As usual my little spot here in N Marquette County cleaned up.  I'm always amazed by the snow magnet of this particular spot.

 

A few pics from this morning.  Snow stake reads 43 inches otg.

Ok so no one laugh (I'm no carpenter) at my hillbilly woodshed.  I had the bright idea last Summmer to build one out of used pallets.  Might not be pretty but it works.  The walls are 8'. Gives a good perspective on how deep the snow really is here.

 

 

[beavis1729]

^ Snow magnet probably due to your relatively high elevation. Adds a bit of orographic lift to snow events in your area, no matter which direction the wind is coming from. Plus, on marginal temp events you may stay snow while nearby areas are mix or rain. 

[Brian D]

20 hours ago, Lightning said:

Fun times.  It makes me happy to see Superior snow!!! 

Me too!  

[Brian D]

1 hour ago, weatherbo said:

6 for the overnight low with fresh snow otg.  Should reach the mid-30's today with full sun.  Will take advantage of the warm sun and clear snow.

As usual my little spot here in N Marquette County cleaned up.  I'm always amazed by the snow magnet of this particular spot.

 

A few pics from this morning.  Snow stake reads 43 inches otg.

Ok so no one laugh (I'm no carpenter) at my hillbilly woodshed.  I had the bright idea last Summmer to build it out of used pallets.  Might not be pretty but it works.  The walls are 8' with pallets. Gives a good perspective on how deep the snow really is here.

 

 

Do you happen to be on a hill top? We have that situation here too. Hill tops tend to get a little more. When I used to plow. I had an account on a hill top 5 miles north of town , locals dubbed it "5 mile hill" as it is exactly 5 miles from town up St Hwy 2. That homestead would get pummeled in respect to my other accounts around the area. Localized orographic lift.

[Brian D]

Looks like another 6" possible Tues night-Wed. Coming through at night this time of year is better for acum snow. Temps like to rise into the 30's during the day now leading to more mixing, at least here at the shore. Lack of ice is a big factor too. MSP should get a quick hit Thurs. Looks like snow to rain.

[weatherbo]

4 hours ago, beavis1729 said:

^ Snow magnet probably due to your relatively high elevation. Adds a bit of orographic lift to snow events in your area, no matter which direction the wind is coming from. Plus, on marginal temp events you may stay snow while nearby areas are mix or rain. 

Many times especially during early and late season events It'll be snowing here, and in Big Bay and Marquette it's plain rain.

4 hours ago, Brian D said:

Do you happen to be on a hill? We have that situation here too. Hill tops tend to get a little more. When I used to plow. I had an account on a hill top 5 miles north of town. That homestead would get pummeled in respect to my other accounts around the area. Localized orographic lift.

I do.  I live on a north facing hill.  My house sits at 1640' with the hill peaking behind my house around 1700'.  Just a few miles away elevation quickly falls to around 1100' so there's a quick 600' rise to my house and that's not including the fact that I'm roughly 1100' in elevation above Superior which is roughly 8 miles away.  Also I'm close to 200' above the MQT WFO down near Negaunee, which is a magnet all their own.

And as Beav mentioned, my area is pretty much upslope to some degree in every direction.  This place is a fog haven as well.

[michsnowfreak]

I was just not too far from Bo's neck of the woods last month.He is absolutely in the sweet spot for snow in the area

[Harry]

4 hours ago, Cary67 said:

 

Those maps are always off and by a bit at that. Around here it is. 

[michsnowfreak]

41 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

Those maps are always off and by a bit at that. Around here it is. 

It is here too. Always a bit low.

[bowtie`]

Sunshine from Duluth to the tenn./alabama border. Have not seen a border to border midwest CAVU event in quite a while.

[OrdIowPitMsp]

Perfect spring skiing day in the Midwest. 

[Chinook]

Yesterday (Saturday) Toledo was 22 degrees with a wind chill of 8 degrees before midnight. It's kind of rough considering there had been a lot of warmer temperatures in February and so many days without snow. Toledo had a high of 33 and a low 22 which was -16 for the high and -8 for the low.

 

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, OrdIowPitMsp said:

Perfect spring skiing day in the Midwest. 

Seems like a cobalt blue sky was seen all over the Midwest today. Skiing still trucking along in SE MI too.