Michigan snowfall so far: How are we stacking up?

Now that we’ve had some winter weather move through the state this year, we’re starting to stack up some snow totals for different cities across Michigan. Of course, most of this snow is now gone, but let’s see how things are going in terms of snowfall so far this season.

Statewide we’ve seen varying amounts of snowfall. The U.P. and Northern Lower have seen the most snow, ranging in the 1-to-2-foot range in some places where lake-effect snow has stacked up. Besides these spots, most of Northern Michigan is in the 6- to 12-inch range for snowfall. The southern half of the state is in a slightly lower range, 2-6 inches, with some pockets in the central and eastern parts of the mitten seeing less than that, and areas closer to Lake Michigan seeing more.

Total snowfall amounts Michigan has seen so far this year. This isn't the snowpack on the ground, just the amount of snow we've seen.NOAA

When it comes to specific cities, some areas are seeing less snow than normal, while others are above average for this time of year. In the U.P., Marquette has significantly less snow than normal, with only 7.8 inches recorded this year, leaving the city in a 19.6 inch departure from normal. Sault Ste. Marie, on the other hand, has seen a surplus of snow this year, with 24.5 inches of snow falling in total this year, leaving the area 8.4 inches above normal.

In the Northern Lower, snowfall amounts are pretty solidly below average so far this year. In Houghton Lake, 2.1 inches of snow have fallen so far this year, with the city at a 5.1 inch deficit for snow. Alpena has seen a bit more snow, with a total of 4.8 inches of snow having fallen this year. Despite this, Alpena is still below average for snow, with a deficit of 1.4 inches.

On the west side of southern Michigan, there’s also been less snow than normal. Grand Rapids has ended up with 1.9 inches of snow overall so far, about 4.7 inches away from normal for this time of year, while Kalamazoo has seen 4.9 inches of snow. Muskegon is on the opposite end of the spectrum, with 13.2 inches of snow having fallen this year so far, 7.6 inches above normal.

The east side of southern Michigan has seen less snow than the west side, since there hasn’t been as much lake-effect reaching across the state. Detroit has ended up with 2.4 inches of snow to start the season, a little less than an inch above normal. Around 2.7 inches of snow have fallen in Flint so far this season, 0.4 inches below normal, and Saginaw has seen the least amount of snow at 1.5 inches.

Since this is an El Niño year, things are likely going to be warmer than normal, and we’ll see less snow than we normally do. Despite that, snowmakers won’t completely leave Michigan alone this winter. We still have plenty of time to add up some more snowfall before spring.