Frederic / Gaylord Area Trail Report – Sledheads of Frederic – 01/11
FREDERIC / GAYLORD AREA UPDATE via Sledheads of Frederic – 01/11 The faucet is on. For years I have said that when there is snow this place is like a faucet. When there is snow people come pouring thru the door. When there is no snow the faucet is shut. Right now its on half way but many are heading north. I saw about 20 sleds at once over at the Swamp yesterday and had a few people tell me they saw groomers out and about including the Grayling Groomers that were running both groomers on trails 7 and 679. So it has begun and while we are at about 6 to 8 inches total so far this week the weather says we are supposed to get blasted with the same if not more up to 12 inches by Saturday. Like I always say I will believe it when I see it. I have plowed snow a little bit but mostly because of what the county piles up. The people that have rode into here are happy with what is now early season conditions. I cant believe that this weekend is MLK weekend already. Its early this year so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I put my new sign up yesterday to the left of my entrance door. I thought I would try the Ring to see who I miss if I am not here during the times I am closed. Please ride safely and stay right. Thanks for checking in. Pete <> <> Visit Sledheads of Frederic on Facebook >>>> <> 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. FREDERIC - GAYLORD AREA UPDATE via Sledheads of Frederic , Michigan Snowmobiling >> #gaylord #snowphotos 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. FREDERIC - GAYLORD AREA UPDATE via Sledheads of Frederic , Michigan Snowmobiling >> Its 19 and rock hard out there. Even harder than yesterday, it was down to about 6 overnight and the moist snow that there was yesterday is even harder today. Still waiting on a loader to come and plow out my storage area. They say they cant make it till wednesday. I have never seen this type of snow event before. Still businesses closed today. I did have 3 sleds ride in this morning an they said its a bit tough. There were really alot of sleds out and about yesterday but I have only seen the 3 this morning and its now 11 a.m. ON the bright side I did see the grayling groomer come thru Frederic and thats good but it has to even be tough on the groomers trying to knock that ice down. Supposed to get warmer in the next couple days. This is a tough one. The swamp got open about noon thirty yesterday and they had a steady stream of people over there all day. Wish I had better things to say. Thanks for checking in. Pete #gaylord #snowphotos frederic-mi.com <> Latest Trail Reports – Quick Links <>Postings From Regional Pages On Facebook
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.