As snow and wind taper off, thousands still without power after historic storm hits Michigan

Charles E. Ramirez and Max Bryan, The Detroit News on Mar 17, 2026

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Traverse City — More than 105,000 customers were without power in Michigan Tuesday morning after a historic blizzard dumped more than 30 inches of snow in some places, closing schools for a second day and continuing to make roads impassable.

Southeast Mount Arvon area in the Upper Peninsula's Baraga County appears to have broken the one-day snowfall record in Michigan with 39 inches through 5:24 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The current Michigan record is 38 inches in Houghton County, recorded at Kearsage in Calumet Township in the Keweenaw Peninsula in 2022.

Herman, which is in Baraga County's L'Anse Township, meanwhile, saw 36 inches as of 8 a.m. Monday.

And in northern Michigan, the Traverse City area had reports of 17-20 inches of snow, while Gaylord had 13 inches, including sleet.

Grand Traverse County's public agencies issued a joint statement Monday night, urging residents to stay off the roads, pointing out that conditions across the county were "becoming life-threatening."

The statement noted nearly 3 feet of snow had fallen in some areas, and that the county was experiencing wind gusts of 40-50 miles per hour and wind chill values below zero.

"Many roads are becoming more impassable due to deep snow drifts," the statement reads. "If you choose to travel tonight and become stranded, emergency responders may be severely delayed reaching you. For your safety and the safety of first responders, please stay home and continue to ride out the remainder of this storm."

The agencies noted that road crews would be working overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning to improve driving conditions.

Dan Watkins, Director of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, said his operation runs a 30-man crew during the day. He said they tried to get primary and local roads, and that they were able to keep state highways open.

"We're probably going to (have) a couple of days of cleanup here" since the wind and snow had tapered off Tuesday, said Watkins.

Watkins advised motorists to pay attention to Grand Traverse Road Commission and Emergency Management's social media pages to see which roads are dangerous in the area.

In Otsego County, which contains Gaylord, road commission teams deployed 22 snow plow drivers to move snow off the roads. The crew worked 16 hours Monday, said Otsego County Road Commission Managing Director Kirk Harrier.

Harrier said his crew came into work at 6 a.m. Tuesday and will work a 10-hour shift.

“For the most part, the storm is passing us. It’s not like it’s continuing, so we’re in the clean-up mode now," Harrier said.

When will weather conditions improve?

Meteorologist Joe Delizio of the National Weather Service in Gaylord said the weather event was beginning to taper off with the exception of some light lake effect snow showers. He said drivers would be able to travel Tuesday, but that they should be careful.

"Just be cognizant of the light breezes and the snow drifts, things like that," Delizio said.

Even with the improved conditions, schools throughout Michigan remained closed due to the ongoing weather event. Marquette Area Public Schools, Cheboygan Area Schools, Gaylord Community Schools and Traverse City Area Public Schools all were closed Tuesday. Cheboygan Area Schools said many side and back roads throughout the district "remain impassable."

Cheboygan City Hall was closed Tuesday, while Alpena City Hall was not open to the public until noon Tuesday. Roscommon County municipal offices were closed until Tuesday. Gaylord City Hall was open to the public Tuesday.

Power outages

More than 105,000 power company customers across Michigan remained in the dark Tuesday morning.

Consumers Energy, which provides service to 1.8 million customers in 62 of Michigan's Lower Peninsula counties, reported that more than 86,400 of its customers were without power, but 95.6% of its total customers had service as of 8 a.m.

Company officials said its crews worked through the night and were able to restore power to a significant number of customers — more than 100,000 — while repairing damage to equipment. They also said more than 700 crews were continuing restoration work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

DTE Energy said 523 of its customers had outages, but 99.98% of its total customers had electricity.

Alpena Power Co. said about 11,600 of its 16,781 customers were without electricity as of 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Great Lakes Energy, which serves western northern Michigan from the tip of the mitten to Holland, reported that about 5,900 of its more than 133,000 customers were without power on Tuesday morning.

Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, which serves a nine-county region in northeast Michigan, said about 1,100 of its more than 35,000 customers had their service interrupted.