Storm beats the odds
It was a strange week in northern Michigan. People went from raking their lawns to shoveling snow.
Folks pulled summer wear from their winter boxes, but would quickly need boots and coats again. It started with record-breaking high temperatures in the lower 80s, which peaked on April 19. That was followed by record-breaking snowfall totals five days later.
Parts of Presque Isle County received six to seven inches of snow, according to the Presque Isle County Road Commission. Rogers City didn’t receive as much snow as places inland.
The most snow in the county was in Presque Isle Township, which was close to the area that was hit the hardest by the weekend.
According to TV 7 & 4 meteorologist Greg McMaster the most snow – nearly a foot — fell in an area from Hubbard Lake to Alpena.
The snow was difficult to track because it melted so quickly, he said.
McMaster said the snowstorm defied the usual numbers.
“It’s not unusual to get snow this time of the year, but the accumulation we picked up was very rare,” said McMaster. “For the later part of April, to get two inches of snow, the chances are less than one percent over historical ave
What made the storm even more unusual is that it followed a warm spell of a week and a half. “We knew back five years ago, when we started seeing the shift in El Nino and La Nina,” said McMaster. “When they started becoming a little more active, our weather patterns were going to more extremes.
“That has correlated well with the forecast over the past years,” said McMaster. “Is it indicative of what’s to come, I doubt it. It does mean we have a very unstable air mass.”
Much of the snow in Onaway had melted by Monday morning.