Frederic / Gaylord Area Trail Report – Sledheads of Frederic – 01/17
FREDERIC / GAYLORD AREA UPDATE via Sledheads of Frederic – 01/17 Its a chilly wednesday morning at about noon and 12 degrees in downtown Frederic. Have had a few sleds in so far today. Took off yesterday to ride and as I was about ready to head out, Mike and Matt from down by Cleveland came in and they took off with me to head out on a fantastic 100 mile adventure. For those of you that are long time readers you may remember an incident when the Ohio Pooper struck my back parking lot, he was caught on camera making a deposit. So that was not a good reference for Mike and Matt that they were friends with him but I took them with me on the guided tour. anyways. We started out heading for Jordan Valley but things werent as smooth as I would have liked to see so insteading heading toward starvation lake at trail 79 we headed south towards Cranberry lake trail. That was the right decision cause we ran into the groomer right away. We were off and somewhere I missed a turn, (thats what you get with a cheap tour guide) I dont know what happened to my little compass that is usally in my pocket but I knew we were still in michigan. We came into some area that finally looked familiar and we found incredible off trail snow. 2 feet in many parts. The real trails I have to say are without much base but still great compared to what we had last week. We found a few nice big hills and finally after a few hours it was time to look for some gas. We finished the day off with burgers at Spikes and I was back off to Frederic and I left those guys at Spikes. Strike up another dinner , so thanks for that Mike. It was a great day of riding. I thinkk this coming weekned is gonna be busy but I am not liking seeing prediction of 36 on next tuesday. I hope they are wrong. Thanks for checking in and MO MO NAH CHEE CHEE NAH>>>>>>> <> <> 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. <> 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.