Late-season snowstorm buries parts of Upper Midwest
May was ushered in with a scene more typical of March as some communities across the northern tier of the country were left to dig out from an unusually heavy spring snowfall.
In multiple areas of Wisconsin and Michigan, the first day of May was greeted with snow including a winter storm warning that was issued for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by the National Weather Service.
Multiple areas in the Midwest were transformed into a winter wonderland during the opening days of May despite the start of meteorological summer being just one month away. Select communities in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota saw snow pile up into Tuesday as a potent storm moved through the region.
Over two feet of snow was recorded across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including a 32-inch report in Ishpeming Township, Michigan, about 15 miles west of Marquette.
Just over 3 inches of snow was recorded near Marquette as of Sunday morning. However, a whopping 19.8 inches of snow fell in Marquette on Monday, shattering the daily snowfall record of 5.4 inches from 2019. On average, Marquette records its last measurable snowfall of the season on April 30. However, the city has picked up snow in May eight of the prior 10 years.
The northern section of Wisconsin also recorded significant spring snowfall. Gile, Wisconsin, about 30 miles east of Ashland, Wisconsin, received 13 inches of snow from the storm.
Measurable snow reports extended as far south as Saint Nazianz, Wisconsin, about 35 miles south of Green Bay and 65 miles north of Milwaukee.
More than 2 inches of snow fell in Green Bay as of Monday morning, the most snow the city has ever recorded on May 1. The 2.2-inch measurement breaks an over-100-year-old record set in 1911. On average, Green Bay records its last snowfall on April 12. Monday was the first time the city had received measurable snowfall in May since 2010.
The late-season snowfall also blanketed portions of northeastern Minnesota, which recorded as much as 3.2 inches near Sea Gull Lake, about 80 miles west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Other areas of Minnesota that recorded snow included Tower, Wales, Grand Marais and Ely.
While the swath of measurable snow dipped to central Wisconsin, snowflakes were reported even farther south Monday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Syracuse, Indiana.
Heavy snow continued to blanket the Michigan Upper Peninsula into Tuesday morning and stretched into other parts of the state, including Gaylord, Michigan, where the local National Weather Service office observed 5.2 inches of snowfall.
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