Power Outage in Houghton, MI

Severe thunderstorms produced power outages across portions of Houghton County on the evening of the 25th.

There were social media photos of power poles snapped near the intersection of Cadeau Road and Alston Road in Alston. Time of the delayed report was estimated from radar.

There was a public report of a barn collapsed onto vehicles along with trees and power lines down in Nisula. The time of the report was estimated from radar.

Power lines were reported down in Calumet. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

Trees were reported down on power lines and across Highway M-203. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

Wind gusts estimated over 60 mph near Kearsarge. There were reports on 800 MHz radio of trees and power lines down across the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Trees down across Kuusisto Road and Hidden Acres Road. The Houghton County Emergency Manager also reported trees down and power outages across the county.

The 911 dispatcher said they received numerous reports of downed trees on a power line near Lake Linden. There was an additional report of trees down on US-41 north of Hancock.

Power lines were down in Laurium with no power in the city.

Fallen tree limbs knocked down power lines.

Numerous trees and power lines were reported down along a two-mile swath near Prickett Dam Road and along Silver Mountain Road.

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, a metal roof was peeled off a warehouse, an empty semi-trailer was overturned, and a camper trailer was tipped over.

A wind gust to 70 mph brought down trees across Highway 26 and knocked down electric power and telephone lines.

Strong low pressure moved from New Mexico to Green Bay and then to James Bay in Ontario. Gulf of Mexico moisture moving over the warm front associated with this low brought snow to western and central Upper Michigan. Enough warm air moved into the Upper Peninsula to change the snow over to sleet then to freezing rain and drizzle. The combination of 3 to 4 inches of sleet and wet snow and 1/4 inch of ice accumulation from freezing rain and drizzle shut down the county airport in Houghton and made roads in Northern Houghton and Keweenaw counties extremely slick and hazardous. There were reports of power and telephone outages as the weight of the freezing and frozen precipitation broke off tree branches and brought down power and telephone lines.

In the wake of a strong summer storm system that moved into Ontario, high winds buffeted Upper Michigan during the evening of the 17th. The exposed Keweenaw Peninsula was hardest hit, where there were reports of numerous trees down and power outages.

The storm that brought thunderstorms to Upper Michigan on the afternoon of the 5th also produced strong west winds across the Upper Peninsula later that night and early on the 6th. There were numerous reports of trees and branches blown down and power outages, especially over the exposed Keweenaw Peninsula. Storm force winds were reported on Lake Superior with the Stannard Rock lighthouse in south central Lake Superior reporting a gust to 72 knots.

A strong early spring storm strenghtened as it moved from Wisconsin, across Upper Michigan, to eastern Lake Superior, where it stalled and weakened. Showers and an occasional rumble of thunder ahead of the storm center changed to snow as strong northwest winds behind the low pushed cold Canadian air across the U.P. The strong and gusty northwest winds caused considerable blowing and drifting snow. The combination of heavy wet snow and strong northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph caused scattered power outages over the western Upper Peninsula, and blowing and drifting snow was responsible for school closures and flight delays or cancellations at the Houghton County Airport. Snowfall reports included 8 inches at Calumet and Phoenix and 12 inches in Painesdale. The highway department reported 12 inches of new snow along highway M-26 southwest of Houghton.