Traverse City Area Trail Report – 01/21
TRAVERSE CITY AREA UPDATE via Grand Traverse Area Snowmobile Club >> 01/21
Groomer Mike went out on the west trail today. He reported that there was a fresh 6-8 inches of snow from the storm Monday with some drifting. Mike rated the trail as excellent and with his pics of the ribbon he was putting down, I would have to agree. Thanks Mike for volunteering your time to groom the trails.
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WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Gaylord Michigan >> A quick-moving clipper system crosses northern MI tonight. Primarily rain is expected across much of northern lower, with mainly snow through the Straits and eastern U.P. Snow will likely end as a period of freezing drizzle early Friday morning with a coating of ice possible, mainly in eastern upper. #miweather #gaylord #cadillac #benzie #traversecity #petoskey #soo #newberryA quick-moving clipper system crosses northern MI tonight. Primarily rain is expected across much of northern lower, with mainly snow through the Straits and eastern U.P. Snow will likely end as a period of freezing drizzle early Friday morning with a coating of ice possible, mainly in eastern upper.
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Gaylord Michigan >> Morning clouds will clear from north to south later today as a front drops through the region, bringing partly to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. Our next round of precip chances returns tonight into Friday morning with a mix of rain and snow. Light freezing rain will be possible overnight across the eastern U.P. and far northern lower, but any glaze of ice should melt Friday morning as temperatures rise above freezing. Additional rain/snow chances move in late Saturday and Sunday. #miweather #gaylord #cadillac #benzie #traversecity #petoskeyMorning clouds will clear from north to south later today as a front drops through the region, bringing partly to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. Our next round of precip chances returns tonight into Friday morning with a mix of rain and snow. Light freezing rain will be possible overnight across the eastern U.P. and far northern lower, but any glaze of ice should melt Friday morning as temperatures rise above freezing. Additional rain/snow chances move in late Saturday and Sunday.
TRAVERSE CITY AREA UPDATE via Grand Traverse Area Snowmobile Club >> Groomer Don went out on the South trail yesterday. He reported that the trail groomed up nice. There were some overhanging branches and a few downed trees that he took care of. Thanks Don for volunteering your time to groom our trails. Better hurry and get out there before the warm up. Remember, Ride Right, Ride Safe, Ride Sober. #traversecity #snowphotosGroomer Don went out on the South trail yesterday. He reported that the trail groomed up nice. There were some overhanging branches and a few downed trees that he took care of. Thanks Don for volunteering your time to groom our trails. Better hurry and get out there before the warm up. Remember, Ride Right, Ride Safe, Ride Sober.
BENZIE AREA UPDATE via Meteorologist Brad Sugden >> The Benzie County Road Commission has been sharing updates on plowing the roads. Follow them if you're in that area. Here's their full post on plowing updates:
Good morning Benzie!
We are through the worst of it. I’m incredibly proud of our team here. Everyone put in a 16–19 hour day on Monday and 12–15 hours on Tuesday. No matter how frustrating things got (it wasn't just personal vehicles that couldn't make it down roads), everyone stepped up and kept pushing forward. We truly have something special here. We aren't done yet, today is a massive clean up and widening everything back out. Tomorrow will be loaders, skip loaders, and the graders turn.
Storm totals (Thursday–Tuesday) in Honor, MI - 26.5"
All of that came with rain and winds up to 50 mph.
Season total for Honor, MI as of March 18th, 2026 - 153.25"
Figured this would be a fun time to share some pictures. If anyone has photos from Snowmageddon, drop them in the comments below!
Thank you for your patience, stay safe out there. #benzie #benzie0318 #traversecity #snowphotos
Sanders are not plows
WEATHER UPDATE via Michigan Storm Chasers >> Final snowfall totals have been released from our blizzard of March 15th-17th, 2026 here in Michigan. Do note, some locations are approximated due to data gaps in the Upper Peninsula..... #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #gaylord #cadillac #benzie #traversecity #petoskeyFinal snowfall totals have been released from our blizzard of March 15th-17th, 2026 here in Michigan. Do note, some locations are approximated due to data gaps in the Upper Peninsula.
No doubt the forecast lived up to its insanity, with many locations getting over 40" of snow across the central Upper Peninsula, and 8-10 foot snow drifts to make things even more extreme. In terms of forecast verification, our forecast did hit the 80%+ accuracy threshold we strive for after each event. Our final verification was 83%, and most of the the misses were where the system shifted slightly south to give parts of the northern Lower Peninsula greater than 24", and parts of the western Upper Peninsula much less. Anything over 18" of snow is just "a lot" at this point anyways, so we aren't stressing too badly about the miss in the Lower Peninsula near the Mackinac Bridge. Lake effect zones in SW Michigan did verify, as text was featured under the forecast that a couple spots would see locally higher amounts.
Overall, this will be a storm we won't soon forget, which adds to the list of wild weather we've experienced in Michigan over the last two weeks. If you have any additional snowfall reports to add to the list that are not affected by drifting, drop them in the comments below here on X or Facebook. A new two-day record was also broken at the NWS office in Marquette of 36"+ with this blizzard, which is just one record smashed by this blizzard.
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Latest Trail Reports – Quick Links
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