Big Snow Country

Why Big Snow Country is the Smart Place to Live Despite the Snow

2010-05-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

The average person will ask: why would someone live where the snow piles up to between 2 and 3 feet high by February, and about triple that, 6-9 feet, for the highest plowed piles of snow in driveways? The answer is that snow and cold for five months is just about the sum total of all the seriously bad things you have to put up with in Big Snow Country, which means by Midwest standards this is actually an outstanding and safe place to live because there are so few bad things to deal with.

IN BIG SNOW COUNTRY YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THE FOLLOWING

Consider all of the things that Big Snow Country does NOT have, which pretty much all other areas in the Midwest and South, and which parts of the Northeast do have to one extent or another:

Tornadoes and the threat of them, which can drive you to pull out all the hair on your head or some such self-destruction. Tornado watches essentially never reach the counties along Lake Superior. There are never any tornados in Big Snow Country.

Straight Line Winds from very severe thunderstorms and in conjunction with near misses from tornados (brief lasting, but can be in excess of 100 mph). Neither severe thunderstorms nor straight line winds ever happen in Big Snow Country. The worst thunder storms in Big Snow Country would be considered wimpy storms in much of the rest of the Midwest and in the South.

Wind Storms in general, typically lasting 10-20 hours, generally in the late winter and in the spring; with sustained winds of 35 or even 40 miles per hour and gusts as high as 75 mph, whereas in Big Snow Country the worst “wind storms” feature sustained winds of about 25 miles per hour with gusts rarely above 45 mph and virtually never higher than 50 mph.

Hail Storms: the severe ones occurring elsewhere will damage your house, your roof and your car, by for example destroying all of your glass windows. The worst the hail ever gets in Big Snow Country is penny sized which does not damage anything.

Severe Thunder Storms with massive amounts of lightning. There is commonly at least 100 times as much cloud to ground lightning in a storm in many other areas of the Midwest and south compared to the little baby thunder storms in Big Snow Country. Also, the loudness of the thunder is far less here than elsewhere.

Floods: In most areas up here, flooding never ever happens. There are a few low lying areas in Big Snow Country where it is possible for there to be minor flooding. Both the frequency and the severity of flooding even in the limited low lying spots are much less than in the flood prone areas of the Midwest. And there are many flood prone areas in the Midwest and in the south.

Heat waves and excessive heat in general. It almost goes without saying that Big Snow Country never has severe heat waves. If you would rather be comfortable than sweating it out in the summer, this is where you want to be.

Wildfires: These occasionally happen in the forest during unusually warm and dry weather. Since true droughts and lengthy heat waves are rare, wildfires are much more rare here than elsewhere in the rural parts of the Midwest and than in the Rocky Mountains area. The rare wildfires that occur here are not only short lasting but also small in size compared to what occurs in those other regions. The rare wildfires that do occur here are far more likely to effect rural woodland more than about 15 miles from Lake Superior as opposed to forest land and populated locations that are less than 15 miles away from the Lake. The risk of a wildfire is virtually zero very close to the Lake, say, within 5 miles of it.

Ice storms: Despite the colder climate, ice storms in Big Snow Country are relatively rare, and if there is any ice accumulation, it is almost always an insignificant amount. The key thing is that basically Big Snow Country is too cold for big ice storms. Severe ice storms are very rare mostly because storms that might produce ice storms mostly track well to the south and because when storms do track farther north it is generally too cold for ice up here, so everything or almost everything up here falls as snow whereas to the south (even in Wisconsin) there might be a lot of ice. In the rare event when an ice storm causes a power outage in Big Snow Country, since the ice storm will have been relatively minor, the power will be restored relatively quickly, most likely within hours. In summary, large ice storms are very rare and there is on average roughly one minor ice storm every two winters in Big Snow Country with relatively little ice accumulation.

Earthquakes: The probability of an earthquake in Big Snow Country is virtually zero since it is as far from any fault line as you can get.

Electric power outages directly or indirectly from any of the storms above (especially from ice storms) lasting from an hour to several weeks. Big Snow Country averages roughly one power outage every two years due to weather (usually due to some ice on power lines combined with winds of about 20 mph gusting to about 40 mph). Many other areas in the US have at least ten times that many power outages, especially in the Midwest and South.

In summary, Big Snow Country is virtually totally free of all of the above storm related threats, which hit much of the rest of the country every single year to one extent or another. Property insurance companies love this area, because they rarely have to pay out weather related property damage claims.

MORE THINGS BIG SNOW COUNTRY LACKS (WHAT A SHAME!
Traffic jams:. People love their cars and trucks in this area, but traffic jams and heavy traffic in general are unheard of due to the light population.

Air or water pollution: This is going to be about the least polluted spot in the country.

Crime: The whole region is as you would expect a low crime area. The bigger the crime, the more rare it is. Petty and quite frankly really dumb crimes do happen, mostly in the big towns such as Marquette, but larger crimes are relatively rare in Marquette and everywhere else in Big Snow Country.

Snakes: There aren’t any except little harmless snakes deep in the woods.

Bears, wolves, deer, etc: There are virtually no wolves and no bears except possibly a tiny number in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Park. No wild animals of this sort ever wander into towns except every once in a blue moon a deer or two or three will wander into one of the small villages, but mostly in the middle of the night, so you won’t see deer unless you are up in the middle of the night.

Insects: Very few types of insects even exist here, and of course the quantity of insects around during the very short "insect season" is minimal. Insects are around outside only from about mid May until mid September and there are far more of them in the woods than in the towns. In the towns insects are not a big deal even at their peak time which is June and July. As long as you don’t live in or next to woodland, you won’t have a black fly or any other insect problem even in June or July.

Of course, in the woods, insects including perhaps the legendary black fly might be a problem during June and July. If you go into the woods in June or July, bring repellent.

ONE MORE THING: TAX CREDITS
There are two credits which help low income people (and people who have just moved into) Michigan.

Michigan has both a homestead property tax credit which reduces the already low property taxes of the area further for those with low incomes. Michigan also has a fairly generous heating credit, which reduces the cost of heating regardless of how you heat. Both of these credits are independent of income, meaning that even those with low incomes get them. In fact, those with the lowest incomes get the highest credits.

SAVE THOUSANDS WHEN YOU START A NEW BUSINESS
You can use Quest Business Services for free to help you get your new Big Snow Country business up and running.

In summary, Big Snow Country lacks so many seriously bad things that most other areas have to contend with that it turns out that it is very smart to live here and put up with about five months of cold and about four months of often heavy snow in exchange for 7-8 months of easy, worry free, and low cost living. Elsewhere the winter may be a lot nicer than here, but spring, summer, and sometimes even autumn are often plagued by disasters large and small, whereas up here winter is a pain but those other three seasons are stress free, worry free, and very nice indeed.

Snow Depths in Big Snow Country

2010-05-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the usual ranges for open ground snow depths for the heaviest snow belt in the world (outside of high mountain country) which is the Michigan Highway 26 corridor between Trimountain / Painesdale and Greenland / Mass City. These depths are for relatively flat land and for snow not drifted differentially by winds. Wind-driven snow drifts could be up to about 1/3 higher than these depths. Snow depth ranges are to the nearest multiple of five inches.

Oct 15: 0 to 5 inches
Oct 31: 0 to 5 inches
Nov 15: 0 to 10 inches
Nov 30: 0 to 15 inches
Dec 15: 5 to 20 inches
Dec 31: 20 to 30 inches
Jan 15: 20 to 35 inches
Jan 31: 25 to 40 inches
Feb 15: 25 to 45 inches
Feb 28: 25 to 40 inches
Mar 15: 20 to 35 inches
Mar 31: 10 to 20 inches
Apr 15: 0 to 15 inches
Apr 30 0 to 10 inches
May 15: 0 to 5 inches

Snow depths will be in these ranges about 3/4 of the time. The once in 100 years highest possible snow depth is about 1/4 higher than the high end of the ranges shown. For example, roughly once in 100 years there might be an absolute peak of 56 inches of snow on the ground on about February 15.

TYPICAL SNOW DEPTH FOR THE HIGHEST PLOWED PILES OF SNOW
The overall plowing season is November 1 through April 30. Any small amount of snow that falls in May and in October is ignored by the plows because it will very quickly melt on its own. Also, small snowfalls (less than about three inches) in early November and in April are also not enough to bring out the plows. But in December and January, the plow trucks operate on most of the days!

Remember, the following ranges are for the HIGHEST plowed piles of snow; most plowed piles will be less high, but still much higher than the open land snow depths shown above.

Oct 15: 0 to 5 inches
Oct 31: 0 to 5 inches
Nov 15: 0 to 15 inches
Nov 30: 10 to 25 inches
Dec 15: 25 to 45 inches
Dec 31: 45 to 70 inches
Jan 15: 50 to 80 inches
Jan 31: 65 to 100 inches
Feb 15: 70 to 110 inches
Feb 28: 65 to 100 inches
Mar 15: 50 to 80 inches
Mar 31: 25 to 50 inches
Apr 15: 10 to 30 inches
Apr 30: 0 to 20 inches
May 15: 0 to 10 inches

HOW TO MAKE EXACT CALCULATIONS FOR OTHER TOWNS
The snow depths above (both the open ground ones and the plowed pile ones) are typical or average snow depths in the Trimountain / Painesdale to Mass City / Greenland stretch along Michigan highway 26. For actual open ground current snow depths, visit the Snow Watch page.

Snow depths in other nearby locations will range from slightly less to much less. To exactly determine what the typical snow depths will be for a place you are interested in, follow the following procedure:

1. Go to this report. Browse the article or use your browser's find feature to find the average annual snowfall for any particular location.

2. Divide the average annual snowfall for your place of interest by 270, which is the average annual snowfall upon which the snow depths above are based.

3. Multiply the result of (2) by the minimum and maximum range numbers shown above.

For example, if your location averages 216 inches a year, it would be 80% of 270. Now if I want to know what the snow depth on the general or open ground will be on January 31, I multiply .80 by the minimum and the maximum from the range shown above, which is 25 to 40. The results are 20 and 32. So now we know that there will be, in most years, between 20 and 32 inches of snow on the open ground on January 31 in the location you were interested in.

Incidentally, the calculation example we used happens to be the actual snow depth on January 31 for Houghton-Hancock, because about 80% of the snow that falls at Painesdale-Trimountain falls there. In other words, Painesdale-Trimountain gets about 25% more snow than does Houghton-Hancock (even though the two locations are only about 8 miles apart).

WHEN DOES THE SNOW ON THE OPEN GROUND COMPLETELY MELT?

The open ground, not including the plowed mounds of snow, and except for a possible additional small amount of overnight spring snow that melts the next day, becomes completely green sometime during the month of April. Most commonly, it would be beeen April 10 and April 20.

Exactly when in this period the green ground returns will depend on whether there is a mid or late April snow storm, which there is slightly more than 1/2 of the years. For example, on April 21, 2009, there was an unusually late heavy snowfall of about 10 inches, which obviously caused the open ground to become snowed over again after most of it had been green for about two weeks. That snow melted rapidly, of course, but the quantity of it along with cooler than normal temperatures and mostly cloudy weather meant that it took until about the first of May for that snow to melt completely off the open ground.

WHEN DO THE PLOWED PILES OF SNOW MELT?

As for the plowed piles, which as you can see above can reach almost 10 feet high before they start coming down, are mostly melted by between April 20 and May 15, most often between April 25 and May 10. The very last little clump of plowed snow that sat in a spot that receives little sun will be gone between May 1 and May 15.

The Ultimate Where the Most Snow Is Report

2009-10-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome, this is the ultimate report on a little known region that has more snow than any other in the world, not counting a small number of high mountain country hamlets. We call it “Big Snow Country”.

THE SNOWIEST TOWN IN THE WORLD WITH AT LEAST 100 PEOPLE NOT LOCATED IN HIGH MOUNTAIN COUNTRY: PAINESDALE
The following are typical or average snowfalls in the village that has the most snow of all. All of the following measurements are in inches.

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF SNOW PER YEAR (OR PER SEASON)
270.0 INCHES

AVERAGE TOTAL INCHES OF SNOW BY MONTH
OCT 4.3
NOV 31.3
DEC 69.4
JAN 78.5
FEB 45.6
MAR 29.9
APR 9.5
MAY 1.5
TOTAL 270.0

AVERAGE INCHES OF SNOW PER WEEK BY MONTH
OCT 1.0
NOV 7.3
DEC 15.7
JAN 17.7
FEB 11.4
MAR 6.8
APR 2.2
MAY 0.3

AVERGE INCHES OF SNOW PER DAY BY MONTH
OCT 0.14
NOV 1.04
DEC 2.24
JAN 2.53
FEB 1.63
MAR 0.96
APR 0.32
MAY 0.05

FIRST AND LAST TRACE OF SNOW
Note: there is never any snow between May 20 and the end of September. The average first date of a trace or more of snow is October 10. The average last day when a trace of snow falls is May 5.

MEASURED BY THE FOOT: AVERAGE TOTAL FEET OF SNOW BY MONTH
OCT .36 feet of snow
NOV 2.61 feet of snow
DEC 5.78 feet of snow
JAN 6.54 feet of snow
FEB 3.80 feet of snow
MAR 2.49 feet of snow
APR .79 feet of snow
MAY .13 feet of snow

WHITE CHRISTMAS PROBABILITY
Big Snow Country: Greater than 99% except for right on the shore of Lake Superior, where the odds are more like 97%

AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN OTHER BIG SNOW COUNTRY LOCATIONS

As you probably already know, most of the snow that falls is lake effect snow. The more snow a point gets, the higher percentage of that snow is lake effect snow. If there were no Lake Superior, the annual average snow in Big Snow Country would be about 50 inches.

Lake effect snow falls much more heavily at elevations that are at least 200 feet higher than the elevation of the lake shore. Therefore, as you can see from any of the annual snowfall maps at http://www.bigsnowcountry3.blogspot.com, the most snow falls relatively near to the lake, between about 7 and 12 miles from it to be exact, but not right at the shore.

The average elevation of Lake Superior is about 600 feet above sea level. By the way, the average depth of the water is 482 feet and the maximum depth is 1,332 feet way out in the middle of the lake.

Global warming has led to a substantial typical reduction in the percentage of Lake Superior that freezes over. This in turn has apparently increased the amount of snow in Big Snow Country in the last 10-20 years, by roughly 10-15% to be exact.

Elevations above sea level in the area that averages more than 200 inches of snow a year are 1,000 to 1,300 feet, which is 400-700 feet higher than the elevation at the shore. Note that the heaviest snow area is about twice as high from sea level as is the Lake.

The shore gets between 2.5 times and three times as much snow as it would get if the Lake were not there. The snowiest towns get more than five times what they would get were it not for the Lake. The area immediately around Twin Lakes in Elm River Township gets almost six times as much snow as it would get were it not for the Lake.

Roughly twice as much snow falls 400-700 feet higher up and from 5-15 miles from the shore. In other words, the extra elevation of the highest snow area results in a doubling of the amount of snow that the lake produces at the shore.

Breaking it down, in the snowiest inhabited town (Painesdale):

--Snow due to geographical location, regardless of the Lake: about 50 inches, or roughly 19% of the actual snow.
--Extra snow due to Lake Superior alone: about 100 inches, or roughly 39% of the actual snow.
--Extra snow due to higher elevation than at the shore: about 120 inches, or roughly 42% of the actual snow.

So now you know what to blame it on!

For those not familiar with elevations, the 400-700 feet rise from the lakeshore to about 10 miles inland is not at all a steep rise. If you were to drive the route, you would hardly notice the down slope if you were heading to the Lake or the upslope if you were heading from the Lake.

The amount of snow rises rapidly from the lake shore to 6-12 miles inland, and it typically peaks from 8-13 miles inland.

ESTIMATED AVERAGE ANNUAL SNOWFALL IN BIG SNOW COUNTRY TOWNS IN INCHES—AS OF 2010
--Includes adjustments for reduced ice cover over of the Lake due to global warming.
--Remember that the amount of snow rises rapidly as you go inland from the Lake. So lake shore places including Marquette and Copper Harbor have areas just a few miles from town (inland from the lake) that get one, two, or even three feet more snow per year.

Twin Lakes-Donken 285
Painesdale 270
Mass City-Greenland 265
Calumet-Laurium 245
White Pine 235
Houghton 220
Negaunee 215
Chatham 210
Singleton 210
Herman 205
Ishpeming 205
Wakefield 200
Ironwood 190
Bergland 185
Ontonagon along shore 170
Munising along shore 165
Newberry 165
Grand Marais along shore 155
Big Bay 155
Covington 140
Copper Harbor along shore 130
Saulte Ste. Marie 130
Champion 125
Marquette western edge 125
L’Anse-Baraga 115
Marquette along shore 110

JUST SOUTH OF BIG SNOW COUNTRY
Iron River 85
Iron Mountain 65

NOTES ABOUT THE HEAVIEST SNOW AREAS
--Twin Lakes / Donken is in Elm River Township, which is in the west central part of Houghton County. This is a remote, semi-wilderness area of 93 square miles lying between Mass City and Painesdale. The population of Elm River Township as of 2010 is only about 185 which, however, is about 15 more people than in 2000. Virtually all of Elm River Township is forest. Elm River Township, like Adams Township and Greenland Township, is situated at just the right distance from the Lake and just the right elevation to produce the highest amount of snow anywhere in Big Snow Country. Of all townships, it is Elm River that averages the most snow of all.

The area within a few miles of Twin Lakes State Park is virtually but not entirely uninhabited. It is believed that Donken, which is about 4 miles northeast of the Park on Michigan highway 26, is the inhabited location that has the highest average amount of snow per year of all, about 285 inches. The reason you did not know this until now is that Donken has only about 20-25 people and none of them has ever scientifically measured and reported out the snow!

--The population of Painesdale, which is about 12 miles northeast of Twin Lakes and which is 7 miles southwest of the Wal-Mart in Houghton, is about 300. Painesdale is in Adams Township, which is 48 square miles of mostly forested land just to the northeast of Elm River Township. The population of Adams as of 2010 is approximately 2,670 persons. As you can see, it has far more people in it than does Elm River to the southwest, mostly because it is much closer to the major towns of Houghton and Hancock. In fact, the far north of Adams Township borders the City of Houghton on the west and southwest.

Adams Township is a jagged, irregular rectangle oriented from southwest to northeast. If it were a smooth rectangle, it would be about 5 miles wide. It is situated approximately 7-12 miles from the Lake, and it is elevated 800-1400 feet, which makes it the perfect combination for the heaviest lake effect snow.

--Greenland and Mass Cities are unincorporated “villages”. They are both in Greenland Township, which is 113 square miles in eastern Ontonagon County just to the southwest of Elm River Township. (There is a small 2 mile strip of Bohemia Township in between Elm River and Greenland where virtually no one lives.) Greenland is, you guessed it, virtually all forest land. The population of Greenland Township as of 2010 is approximately 715 persons. The population of Greenland village itself is believed to be approximately 250. The population of Mass City village, which is 2 miles southeast of Greenland, is believed to be approximately 100.

In summary, the three towns that have at least 100 people that have the most snow are Greenland, Mass City, and Painesdale. These are the heaviest snowfall towns of 100 or more people in the world that are not located in high mountain country.

Daily and Monthly Temperature Averages for Houghton--Hancock

2009-10-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

ADD 1-2 DEGREES TO HIGH TEMPERATUES AND 2-3 DEGREES TO LOW TEMPERATURES TO ACCOUNT FOR GLOBAL WARMING

January
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	23	9	16.0
2	22	9	15.5
3	22	9	15.5
4	22	9	15.5
5	22	9	15.5
6	22	9	15.5
7	22	8	15.0
8	22	8	15.0
9	22	8	15.0
10	22	8	15.0
11	21	8	14.5
12	21	8	14.5
13	21	8	14.5
14	21	7	14.0
15	21	7	14.0
16	21	7	14.0
17	21	7	14.0
18	21	7	14.0
19	21	7	14.0
20	21	7	14.0
21	21	7	14.0
22	21	7	14.0
23	21	7	14.0
24	22	7	14.5
25	22	7	14.5
26	22	7	14.5
27	22	7	14.5
28	22	7	14.5
29	22	7	14.5
30	22	7	14.5
31	22	7	14.5
MNTH:	21.6	7.6	14.6

February
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	22	7	14.5
2	22	7	14.5
3	23	7	15.0
4	23	7	15.0
5	23	7	15.0
6	23	8	15.5
7	23	8	15.5
8	23	8	15.5
9	23	8	15.5
10	24	8	16.0
11	24	8	16.0
12	24	8	16.0
13	24	9	16.5
14	24	9	16.5
15	25	9	17.0
16	25	9	17.0
17	25	9	17.0
18	25	10	17.5
19	26	10	18.0
20	26	10	18.0
21	26	10	18.0
22	26	10	18.0
23	27	11	19.0
24	27	11	19.0
25	27	11	19.0
26	28	12	20.0
27	28	12	20.0
28	28	12	20.0



MNTH:	24.8	9.1	17.0

March
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	28	12	20.0
2	29	12	20.5
3	29	13	21.0
4	29	13	21.0
5	30	14	22.0
6	30	14	22.0
7	30	14	22.0
8	31	15	23.0
9	31	15	23.0
10	31	15	23.0
11	32	16	24.0
12	32	16	24.0
13	32	17	24.5
14	33	17	25.0
15	33	17	25.0
16	34	18	26.0
17	34	18	26.0
18	34	18	26.0
19	35	19	27.0
20	35	19	27.0
21	35	19	27.0
22	36	20	28.0
23	36	20	28.0
24	37	21	29.0
25	37	21	29.0
26	38	21	29.5
27	38	22	30.0
28	38	22	30.0
29	39	22	30.5
30	39	23	31.0
31	40	23	31.5
MNTH:	33.7	17.6	25.7

April
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	40	24	32.0
2	40	24	32.0
3	41	24	32.5
4	41	25	33.0
5	42	25	33.5
6	42	26	34.0
7	43	26	34.5
8	43	27	35.0
9	44	27	35.5
10	44	27	35.5
11	45	28	36.5
12	45	28	36.5
13	46	29	37.5
14	46	29	37.5
15	47	29	38.0
16	47	30	38.5
17	48	30	39.0
18	48	31	39.5
19	49	31	40.0
20	49	31	40.0
21	50	32	41.0
22	50	32	41.0
23	51	32	41.5
24	51	33	42.0
25	52	33	42.5
26	53	34	43.5
27	53	34	43.5
28	54	34	44.0
29	54	35	44.5
30	55	35	45.0

MNTH:	47.1	29.5	38.3

May
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	55	36	45.5
2	56	36	46.0
3	57	36	46.5
4	57	37	47.0
5	58	37	47.5
6	58	37	47.5
7	59	38	48.5
8	59	38	48.5
9	60	39	49.5
10	60	39	49.5
11	61	39	50.0
12	61	40	50.5
13	61	40	50.5
14	62	40	51.0
15	62	41	51.5
16	63	41	52.0
17	63	41	52.0
18	64	42	53.0
19	64	42	53.0
20	64	42	53.0
21	65	43	54.0
22	65	43	54.0
23	65	43	54.0
24	66	43	54.5
25	66	44	55.0
26	66	44	55.0
27	66	44	55.0
28	67	45	56.0
29	67	45	56.0
30	67	45	56.0
31	67	45	56.0
MNTH:	62.3	40.8	51.6

June
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	68	46	57.0
2	68	46	57.0
3	68	46	57.0
4	68	46	57.0
5	69	47	58.0
6	69	47	58.0
7	69	47	58.0
8	69	47	58.0
9	69	48	58.5
10	70	48	59.0
11	70	48	59.0
12	70	49	59.5
13	70	49	59.5
14	70	49	59.5
15	71	49	60.0
16	71	49	60.0
17	71	50	60.5
18	71	50	60.5
19	72	50	61.0
20	72	50	61.0
21	72	51	61.5
22	72	51	61.5
23	72	51	61.5
24	73	51	62.0
25	73	52	62.5
26	73	52	62.5
27	73	52	62.5
28	73	52	62.5
29	74	53	63.5
30	74	53	63.5

MNTH:	70.8	49.3	60.1

July
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	74	53	63.5
2	74	53	63.5
3	75	53	64.0
4	75	54	64.5
5	75	54	64.5
6	75	54	64.5
7	75	54	64.5
8	75	54	64.5
9	75	55	65.0
10	76	55	65.5
11	76	55	65.5
12	76	55	65.5
13	76	55	65.5
14	76	55	65.5
15	76	55	65.5
16	76	56	66.0
17	76	56	66.0
18	76	56	66.0
19	76	56	66.0
20	76	56	66.0
21	77	56	66.5
22	77	56	66.5
23	77	56	66.5
24	77	56	66.5
25	77	56	66.5
26	77	56	66.5
27	77	56	66.5
28	77	56	66.5
29	76	56	66.0
30	76	56	66.0
31	76	57	66.5
MNTH:	75.9	55.2	65.6

August
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	76	57	66.5
2	76	56	66.0
3	76	56	66.0
4	76	56	66.0
5	76	56	66.0
6	76	56	66.0
7	76	56	66.0
8	76	56	66.0
9	75	56	65.5
10	75	56	65.5
11	75	56	65.5
12	75	56	65.5
13	75	56	65.5
14	75	56	65.5
15	74	55	64.5
16	74	55	64.5
17	74	55	64.5
18	74	55	64.5
19	73	55	64.0
20	73	54	63.5
21	73	54	63.5
22	72	54	63.0
23	72	54	63.0
24	72	54	63.0
25	72	53	62.5
26	71	53	62.0
27	71	53	62.0
28	70	52	61.0
29	70	52	61.0
30	70	52	61.0
31	69	51	60.0
MNTH:	73.6	54.7	64.2

September
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	69	51	60.0
2	68	51	59.5
3	68	50	59.0
4	68	50	59.0
5	67	50	58.5
6	67	49	58.0
7	66	49	57.5
8	66	49	57.5
9	66	48	57.0
10	65	48	56.5
11	65	48	56.5
12	65	47	56.0
13	64	47	55.5
14	64	47	55.5
15	63	46	54.5
16	63	46	54.5
17	63	46	54.5
18	62	45	53.5
19	62	45	53.5
20	62	45	53.5
21	61	44	52.5
22	61	44	52.5
23	61	44	52.5
24	60	43	51.5
25	60	43	51.5
26	59	43	51.0
27	59	42	50.5
28	59	42	50.5
29	58	42	50.0
30	58	42	50.0

MNTH:	63.3	46.2	54.8

October
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	58	41	49.5
2	57	41	49.0
3	57	41	49.0
4	57	40	48.5
5	56	40	48.0
6	56	40	48.0
7	56	39	47.5
8	55	39	47.0
9	55	39	47.0
10	54	38	46.0
11	54	38	46.0
12	54	38	46.0
13	53	38	45.5
14	53	37	45.0
15	52	37	44.5
16	52	37	44.5
17	51	36	43.5
18	51	36	43.5
19	51	35	43.0
20	50	35	42.5
21	50	35	42.5
22	49	34	41.5
23	49	34	41.5
24	48	34	41.0
25	48	33	40.5
26	47	33	40.0
27	47	33	40.0
28	46	32	39.0
29	45	32	38.5
30	45	32	38.5
31	44	31	37.5
MNTH:	51.6	36.4	44.0

November
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	44	31	37.5
2	43	30	36.5
3	43	30	36.5
4	42	30	36.0
5	42	29	35.5
6	41	29	35.0
7	41	28	34.5
8	40	28	34.0
9	40	28	34.0
10	39	27	33.0
11	39	27	33.0
12	38	26	32.0
13	38	26	32.0
14	37	26	31.5
15	37	25	31.0
16	36	25	30.5
17	36	25	30.5
18	35	24	29.5
19	35	24	29.5
20	35	23	29.0
21	34	23	28.5
22	34	23	28.5
23	33	22	27.5
24	33	22	27.5
25	32	21	26.5
26	32	21	26.5
27	32	21	26.5
28	31	20	25.5
29	31	20	25.5
30	31	19	25.0

MNTH:	36.8	25.1	31.0

December
DATE	MAX	MIN	AVG
1	30	19	24.5
2	30	18	24.0
3	30	18	24.0
4	29	18	23.5
5	29	17	23.0
6	29	17	23.0
7	28	17	22.5
8	28	16	22.0
9	28	16	22.0
10	27	16	21.5
11	27	15	21.0
12	27	15	21.0
13	27	14	20.5
14	26	14	20.0
15	26	14	20.0
16	26	14	20.0
17	25	13	19.0
18	25	13	19.0
19	25	13	19.0
20	25	12	18.5
21	25	12	18.5
22	24	12	18.0
23	24	12	18.0
24	24	11	17.5
25	24	11	17.5
26	23	11	17.0
27	23	10	16.5
28	23	10	16.5
29	23	10	16.5
30	23	10	16.5
31	23	10	16.5
MNTH:	26.0	13.8	19.9

Winter Weather in Big Snow Country: a lot of Snow but Little Extremely Cold Weather

2009-10-20T01:10:00.000-07:00

The true Northern style winter is about 4 months long, from about November 20 until about March 20. But winter can be up to 4 1/2 months long in a more severe than usual winter. On the other hand, global warming may produce some winters that are effectively shorter, down to say 3 1/2 months.

Global warming can possibly extend a mix of rain and light snow well into December, as it did in two recent years. If this happens, since a normal December by itself produces on average 1/4 of annual snow, the overall snow for the year will most likely end up to be much less than usual.

In almost all years, at least 90% of the snow falls between November 20 and March 20. It snows much more in the first two of those four months. The average date when half of all snow for the season has fallen is no later than January 10. The rate of snow drops off by half or more whenever Lake Superior becomes substantially frozen over, which it often but not always does between very late January and early February.

For how much snow falls and typical snow depths, see this article.

COLDEST MONTHS OF ALL
During much of the coldest two months of winter, running from December 25 until about February 25, the temperature remains at or below freezing 24 hours a day, which causes the snow to pile up much more than it would if there were a good number of days above freezing. During these coldest 60 days, you typically will get only about eight days when the temperature reaches 33 degrees or higher.

In a colder than normal January, it will rise above freezing (32 degrees) during the day only one or two times the whole month. In a normal January, the high temperature will be a little above freezing three or four times on the average. Except in a really cold January, there will be at least one day in January when the high temperature is at least 40, but rarely will a January day be any warmer than 42.

The temperature remains below freezing all day more than 75% of the days during most December-February periods. In typical winter months, the temperature will rise above freezing between three and five days during January and during February, and five or six days in December, mostly in the first half of December.

THE THREE COLDEST MONTHS: DECEMBER--FEBRUARY
Everyone knows there is a lot of snow in the winter in Big Snow Country. What most people don't know is that in the winter it is actually a little warmer here than it is south and west of here. The overall average winter temperature in Big Snow Country (December through February) is about equal to the average winter temperature in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which is 200-300 miles southwest of Big Snow Country. Most people don't know this and would not think it to be true. The overall average winter temperature in both the Twin Cities and in Big Snow Country is about 17 degrees.

Even more surprising is that the most severe cold snaps are actually substantially worse in the Twin Cities than they are in Big Snow Country. This is because Lake Superior modifies even severe cold to make it somewhat less severe. In the most severe cold snaps, happening between once and three times a year, the temperatures in the Twin Cities will be about four or five degrees colder than they are in Big Snow Country. The more minor cold snaps are going to be a degree or two worse in Minneapolis-St. Paul than they are in and Big Snow Country.

THE COLDEST WEATHER OF ALL
The most extreme cold periods happen either once, twice, or if you are not lucky three times between late December and the first few days of March. These outbreaks of true arctic air in Big Snow Country cause the day highs to be between zero and ten above zero, and the night lows to be between fifteen below and five below. These outbreaks last from two to six days.

These cold waves are not as severe as they are more than 30 miles from Lake Superior. These cold periods are from 3-25 degrees less extreme in Big Snow country than they are in all of Minnesota, than they are North and South Dakota, and than they are in all of Wisconsin except for right along the Lake Michigan shore and except for the southeast area.

Looking more generally at all winter days that are below normal, within 30 miles of Lake Superior, the nights are substantially warmer (5-25 degrees) while days are between 15 degrees warmer and 5 degrees colder than they are in those other areas.

THE ABSOLUTE COLDEST NIGHTS OF THE YEAR
The coldest handful of nights / mornings of the year are never as severely cold in Big Snow Country as they are away from the lake. To be specific, unlike in the Dakotas, unlike in Minnesota including the Twin Cities, and unlike in Wisconsin away from Lake Michigan, the temperature in Big Snow Country drops below minus 10 degrees only between once and four times a year. You can count on mornings of less than minus 10 three to fifteen times per year in those other areas.

In most years, the temperature never drops below minus 15 degrees in Big Snow Country, whereas it can easily drop to minus 20, to minus 30, or even to minus 40 (North Dakota) in those other areas.

So it is quite rare for the temperature to ever drop below minus 15 degrees. The absolute coldest night / morning of the year will most years end up being between minus 11 and minus fifteen degrees, which is about 5 degrees WARMER than the usual coldest night /morning in the Twin Cities.

MEDIAN ABSOLUTE COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR IN BIG SNOW COUNTRY: NOT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES BY ANY STRETCH!
The first number is the average morning low of the coldest day of the year and the second number is the average afternoon high.

Copper Harbor -8/3
Calumet-Laurium -13/1
Houghton -14/1
South Range-15/1
Painesdale -16/1
Ontonagon -10/3
Ironwood -16/2
Marquette -15/3
Munising -15/3

FOR COMPARISON
Twin Cities, Minnesota -20/0
Wausau, Wisconsin -18/0
Fargo, North Dakota -25/-5
Winnipeg, Canada -33/-13

THE SHORE VERSUS 5-30 MILES INLAND ON THE COLDEST 2-3 MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
On the coldest mornings of all, the night / morning lows are going to be about four degrees colder at Houghton than they are at Copper Harbor. Specifically, in the most severe arctic waves, which normally occur once or twice a year, at Houghton the lows will be between -10 and -15, whereas the lows at Copper Harbor will hold to between -6 and -11. In slightly higher terrain south of Houghton, at South Range for example, the coldest mornings of the year will be between -12 and -17. To the southwest, the coldest mornings of the year are slightly colder due to specific topographical features. There you can look for the coldest mornings to be between -13 and -18 at Ironwood and between -15 and possibly -20 at Wakefield.

Meanwhile, at Marquette lake shore, the coldest mornings of the year are going to be between -10 and -15 degrees. The coldest mornings of the year are up to three degrees colder 5-10 miles inland (-13 to -18) and another degree colder still by the time you get to Negaunee (-14 to -19). Michigamme, the principal town in western Marquette County is in a higher, farther from the lake, semi-wilderness area where the coldest mornings of the year are between -18 and -23 degrees.

BIG SNOW COUNTRY COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
The coldest night of the year will often feature morning lows in the following range:

Copper Harbor -6 to -11
Calumet-Laurium -10 to -15
Houghton -10 to -15
South Range-11 to -16
Painesdale -12 to -17
Ontonagon -7 to -12
Wakefield -15 to -20
Ironwood -13 to -18
Champion -17 to -22
Negaunee -14 to -19
Marquette lakeshore -10 to -15
Marquette inland area -13 to -18
Munising -10 to -15

COLDEST NIGHTS / MORNINGS ELSEWHERE
Big Snow Country is the counties along Lake Superior in Michigan. Just to the south of Big Snow Country, the coldest mornings are much colder. For example, at Iron Mountain MI, expect the coldest two or three mornings of the year to be between -20 and -27 degrees. More comparisons:

WISCONSIN COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
Rhinelander -18 to -25
Wausau -15 to -22
La Crosse -14 to -21
Madison -11 to -18

MINNESOTA COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
International Falls -29 to -36
Duluth -17 to -24
St. Cloud -19 to -26
Twin Cities -14 to -21
Rochester -14 to -21

NORTH DAKOTA COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
Grand Forks -24 to -31
Fargo -20 to -27
Bismarck -20 to -27

SOUTH DAKOTA COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
Aberdeen -18 to -25
Huron -16 to -23
Sioux Falls -12 to -19

MANITOBA COLDEST 2-3 NIGHTS / MORNINGS OF THE YEAR
Winnipeg -27 to -34

DAILY AVERAGES AT HOUGHTON-HANCOCK
You can see the exact average highs and lows for Houghton-Hancock for every day of the year. You will find them here.

For details about the weather between March 20 and November 20, see this article.

Lake Superior ice and how it Effects Snowfall

2009-10-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

LAKE SUPERIOR ICE COVER
The more Lake Superior is covered with ice, the less lake effect snow there will be. In the last 30 years, apparently due to global warming, the Lake has been on average less covered with ice which has, as expected, led to more lake effect snow.

Global warming has apparently led to less ice cover on Lake Superior and thus more snow in Big Snow Country. However, there is evidence that climate variation over any 100 year period, regardless of and apart from any overall global warming, has played an even bigger role in determining the actual snowfall in Big Snow Country. It seems that across many decades, how cold it gets on average in the winter has varied in patterns (or waves) lasting about three decades each, completely separate and apart from overall global warming.

So far, extra snow from global warming alone would hardly be noticed on top of all the snow that falls with or without global warning. Assuming that global warming is real, it is apparently true that global warming has already led to an increase of roughly 10% in the snowfall in Big Snow Country.

Historical evidence indicates that from about 1860 until about 1980, Lake Superior most often was completely iced over for at least several miles out, for the first few miles from the American southern shore, by the holiday season: the last week of December. Since 1980, it has more and more taken almost three weeks longer than that for the shore area to ice over, until about the middle of January.

From 1860 until about 1980, Lake Superior ice cover near and along the southern shore usually melted away as of the middle of April, by the 20th of April at the latest. Since 1980, the near shore ice cover has been on average melted away almost three weeks sooner, by about the end of March.

The Lake ices over from shallow water near the shore outward. In very severe winters, the Lake becomes almost entirely iced over, including even most of the middle of it. Such winters have become less common, although the 2008-09 winter defied recent history and was cold enough to be classified as a severe one. In a mild winter, which apparently is more likely now due to global warming, the Lake, even at peak ice, may be iced over only relatively near the shore, with greater ice cover further out into the Lake on the Canadian side than on the American.

Peak Lake Superior ice is reached during mid or late February. The greater the percentage of the Lake that is iced over, the slower it will melt. On the other hand, just like on land, melting increases from one week to the next during March and April. Late April "melting power" is probably 10 times early March "melting power.

In the century up until 1980, the Lake on average became almost half iced over by mid February, with the deepest waters well out from the shore (starting about 25 miles out) remaining ice free except in colder than normal winters. There was (and still is) quite a bit of variation in Lake Superior ice cover from year to year. During the 1880-1980 century, in the most severe winters, the Lake became up to about 90% iced over. In the most mild winters, the Lake became as little as 15% iced over (near the shores only.) Whether the ice has ever become literally 100% iced over is unknown.

There were patterns during the century for which there is some scientific information. In general, from about 1898 until about 1922, Lake Superior averaged substantially more peak ice coverage (in February) than the overall 45% average for the century. Then from 1922 until 1958, Lake Superior averaged substantially less peak ice coverage than the overall 45% average. From 1958 until 1982, Lake Superior peak ice coverage became substantially higher than 45% again. Since 1982, Lake Superior peak ice coverage has been substantially below 45% again.

From the foregoing and also from actual historical snowfall records, we know that:
1898-1922: Lake effect snow was less than the 100 year average, probably about 15-25% less judging from available recorded evidence.
1922-1958: Lake effect snow was heavy, probably about 15-25% more than the 100 year average.
1958-1982: Lake effect snow was less than the 100 year average, probably about 15-25% less.
1982-current: Lake effect snow was heavy, probably about 15-25% more than the 100 year average.

For example, consider Houghton. It has been averaging about 220 inches of snow a year over the last 30 years, within the low ice and heavy snow combination. If this snow is actually 20% higher than the 100 year average, then that 100 year average is about 183 inches, which is about what in fact it is. If the Lake were to again start largely icing over again at peak ice in February (which appears to be very unlikely despite the surprisingly cold 2008-09 winter) then Houghton's expected snowfall might be as little as 146 inches per year. Note that the swing caused by the high ice versus the low ice historical periods is such that the low ice periods produce about half again as much snow as do the high ice periods.

As we have just seen, since 1982, the percentage of the Lake surface that ices over at the peak has on average been substantially less than the century average of 45%. Open water is the original source of lake effect snow, not iced over water. The more miles of ice the clouds packing the lake effect snow have to travel over before reaching land, the more the snow will fall on the ice on the Lake, and the less the snow will fall on the land.

Big Snow Country is researching whether any scientist has yet discovered the relationship between lake snowfall and how many miles of ice there are between the open water and the land.

Find out how much ice cover there is on Lake Superior at this time here. Click on the map there to make it larger and readable.

Spring, Summer, and Fall in Big Snow Country

2009-10-18T04:25:00.000-07:00

MAY 10 THROUGH OCTOBER 10: WELCOME TO PARIS OR LONDON BUT WITHOUT THE HIGH EXPENSE AND THE FUNNY ACCENTS AND LANGUAGE
The weather in general and the temperatures specifically are much more livable in Big Snow Country than they are in the rest of the Midwest and beyond between mid May and mid October. Highs most days during these five months are between 57 and 85 and lows range from 39 to 63 during most days these five months.

For the three warmest of all months of June, July, and August, the average high is about 73 and the average low is about 53 in Big Snow Country.

Unless you like hot weather, you are going to find the four months from May 25 until September 25 to be as close to perfect as you can get within the United States. To say that temperatures are pleasant would be an understatement.

The five months of warmer weather are very much like the warmer weather in Ireland, Britain, Germany, and northern France. NO AIR CONDITIONING is needed, and you can believe it or not even get by without a fan in the window if you can live with an occasional 80-85 degrees reading in your house. The fact that air conditioning is totally unnecessary is a big and growing bigger every year savings of money.

Between mid May and mid September, there are a very small number of thunderstorms that are mostly laughably mild storms compared to the rest of the Midwest. Lake Superior has the effect of reducing severe thunderstorms to very mild storms. Any hail is very small, maximum wind gusts are less than 40 mph, and the tornado threat is virtually non-existant.

During the other seven months, there is a long winter bookmarked by two very cool periods where fortunately the temperature is usually a little too warm for snow. Before winter starts in mid November and after most true winter weather is over with in mid March, there are two relatively short seasons (fall and spring) that are of course substantially cooler than what most people in the USA are used to.

FALL: OCTOBER 1-NOVEMBER 20
September if you are lucky is an extra month of summer. More commonly, September ends up being a fall type month similar to October in Chicago.

After September highs range from the high fifties to the low 70's most days, a very cool fall arrives sometime in early October, with high temperatures now generally ranging from the high 30's to the high 50's. In October, the large amount of sunshine of the five warmest months of the year (May-September) gives way to an increasing number of mostly cloudy days with occasional light rain showers. October 1-November 20 low temperatures normally range from the mid 20's to the mid 40's.

Most but not all of the fall precipitation is rain. October averages out to 4 inches of snow, but in many years there is only a trace to an inch of snow during October. The first half of November averages out to about 7-8 inches of snow.

Generally, the roads don't need any plowing until sometime between November 10 and November 20. Little if any snow ever accumulates on the roads until starting in mid November. Heavy road accumulations don't generally occur until at least the last week of November.

Any small amount of snow that accumulates on the grass prior to November 10 does melt completely, although not necessarily in only one day if there is heavy cloud cover and temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. Almost all October precipitation is rain, while November transitions from rain to snow. Rain is par for the course up until about November 12, when snow becomes the norm.

We are now jumping past winter and moving on to spring. Visit here for the article about the winter weather.

SPRING: MARCH 20--MAY 10
Unlike in November, when actual snow storms are uncommon, and so when most of the snow is lake effect, in March and early April, at least half of any snow is due to actual snow storms, storms that are spring rain storms and often flood causing rain storms farther south in the Midwest. Spring highs range from the high 30’s to the low 60’s and spring lows generally range from the low 20’s to the mid 40’s.

Although the spring can have several days of cloudy weather in a row, at least within 25 miles of Lake Superior, there are more sunny days in the spring than the fall, which tends to get stuck in even longer stretches of cloudy but very light precipitation weather. The difference between the high and low temperatures is about 5 degrees more in the spring than it is in the fall, due to greater daylight and greater sunshine..

From March 20 until April 25, even though it is now going up to well above freezing during the day (to 40 to 55 degrees) it can sometimes seem like it is still winter, because it can still be below freezing at night, because there can still be snow on the ground (and there will definitely still be plowed snow piles) and because it can take until the end of April before most of the snow is gone. Moreover, although most snow falls between November 20 and March 20, there is in most years some kind of a spring snowstorm between March 20 and April 20.

DAILY AVERAGES AT HOUGHTON-HANCOCK
You can see the exact average highs and lows for Houghton-Hancock for every day of the year. You will find them here.

Shore Versus Inland Big Snow Country Temperatures

2009-10-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

SHORE TEMPERATURES VERSUS INLAND TEMPERATURES
We will focus on Copper Harbor versus Houghton to explain this. Putting the day and night together, the average temperature at Copper Harbor is warmer than Houghton between August and March and it is cooler between May and July. Copper Harbor is a degree warmer than Houghton in August and it is about 2 1/2 degrees warmer in the fall between September and November. During the winter the amount by which Copper Harbor is warmer than Houghton gradually declines, from 2.8 degrees warmer in December to about one degree warmer in February and March. In April, the average temperature is almost exactly the same.

From May through July, Copper Harbor is slightly cooler than Houghton. Copper Harbor is about 2 degrees cooler in May and 2 1/2 degrees cooler in June. In July Copper Harbor is about a degree cooler than Houghton.

In summary, within Big Snow Country, the overall annual average temperature right along the shore is one or two degrees warmer than it is 5-30 miles inland. As an annual average, night lows at the shore are one to four degrees warmer whereas days average out to between the same and one degree warmer. For example, to nearest half a degree, the overall annual average temperature at Copper Harbor is 42, while it is 41 at Houghton-Hancock, 40.5 at South Range, and 40 at Ironwood. At Marquette along the Lake, it is about 43.

DAY / NIGHT MICRO VARIATIONS
We will use Copper Harbor versus Houghton to look at seasonal day/night micro differences. In the fall and winter, from September through February, the nights are 2-3 degrees warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. The exact difference is 2.3 degrees and the peak difference is in December, when Copper Harbor is 2.8 degrees warmer than Houghton at night.

In March at night, Copper Harbor is a degree warmer than Houghton. In August it is half a degree warmer.

Between April and July, Copper Harbor nights are cooler than they are in Houghton, ranging between half a degree cooler in April to almost three degrees cooler in June.

As for day highs, between September and February they average 2-3 degrees warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. In March and late August, day highs are about 1 degree warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton.

The rest of the year, between April and mid-August, the days are cooler at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. In April, the highs are less than a degree cooler at Copper Harbor versus Houghton.

Between May and mid August, you would probably notice the difference between Copper Harbor and Houghton, because during this period the days are 2-3 degrees cooler in Copper Harbor than they are in Houghton.

SNOWFALL
For the differences in snowfall between shore and inland, see this article.