GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011 produced 17.7 inches of snow in two days.
Grand Rapids had 6.1 inches on Feb. 1 and another 11.1 inches on Feb. 2. It was cold enough (the warmest temperature during the snowfall was 24 degrees) that the snow was light and fluffy.
Winds in West Michigan gusted to 40 to 50 mph. The wind blew the snow into drifts over 6 feet high.
Localized flooding occurred in northeastern Illinois, near the coast of Lake Michigan where strong winds brought storm surge and lakeshore flooding .
The storm was well forecast – much better foredcast than the blizzards we had on January 26, 967 and on January 26, 1978. I remember talking about a possible blizzard five days before the event. The National Weather Service did an excellent job with timely watches and warnings and people headed the alerts. The night of the 1st, all five Storm Team 8 meteorologists were in the Tracking Center at 3 a.m.
The counties colored red on the map above were under a Blizzard Warning, the counties in pink were under a Winter Storm Warning.