TRAVERSE CITY- A late-season storm that buried parts of Grand Traverse County under more than two feet of snow, with drifts reported at up to six feet in some areas, is being described by county officials as one of the most impactful winter weather events the region has seen in more than a decade.
Grand Traverse County Emergency Manager Gregg Bird said the storm stands as the largest and most impactful incident the county’s emergency operations team has handled in 13 years.
Bird said forecasters initially predicted a catastrophic ice event, but the storm’s track shifted late Sunday night, sparing Grand Traverse County the worst of it.
Neighboring counties, including Wexford, Roscommon and Alpena, were not as fortunate and faced state-of-emergency declarations.
The snow that fell came down heavy, wet, and fast. Bird described its consistency as similar to soft serve ice cream or wet cement.
“I had somebody who’s been in county roads for nearly 20 years that said they have never seen this much snow in that consistency,” he said.
Dan Watkins, director of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, said road conditions ranged from roughly two feet of snowpack to drifts reaching six feet in some areas.
“It was definitely probably the worst storm we’ve seen since the one of 2012,” Watkins said.
The road commission moved to 24-hour operations, running crews in back-to-back 12-hour shifts. At the height of the storm, crews burned through approximately 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day, Watkins said.
A full cost estimate, including overtime and snow hauling, is not expected for at least a week.
The county’s Emergency Operations Center activated over the weekend, bringing road commission officials, emergency management, law enforcement, fire and central dispatch together in one location to manage the response.
That coordination included pre-clearing routes for ambulances and fire trucks during emergency calls, as well as escorting an ambulance traveling from Wexford County to a Traverse City hospital through hazardous road conditions.
Inside Traverse City limits, Streets Superintendent Chris Weber said the volume of snow created a challenge that went beyond plowing: there was nowhere left to put it.
“We ran out of places to put the snow,” Weber said. “We have several parking lots that are full, and we had to get creative with putting snow in some places that we normally wouldn’t.”
Weber said designated city snow storage sites, typically city-owned parking lots, filled faster than crews could haul snow away. Some parking spaces along Hall Street were temporarily taken over for snow storage, and several alleys remain partially blocked.
City crews worked shifts of 15 to 16 hours before returning the next day. Weber said that kind of commitment reflects a deeper sense of responsibility his team brings to the work.
“Their families are on these roads, too,” Weber said. “So they really do take a lot of pride in their work and do their best.”
Weber acknowledged the late-season storm may strain the city’s snow removal budget, but said officials had anticipated the possibility and built in additional funding. Whether that will be enough depends on the final contractor bill, he said.
Grand Traverse County also activated its wireless emergency alert system during the height of the storm, pushing notifications directly to residents’ phones and televisions urging them to stay off the roads. Bird said the system, reserved for only the most critical situations, appeared to reach people effectively.
“These aren’t your normal winter conditions in northern Michigan,” Bird said. “These are serious, catastrophic conditions.”
Cleanup is expected to continue for several more days, with alleys, neighborhoods and sidewalks being prioritized as main roads clear. Weber said alleys are receiving particular attention, as they serve as the primary access point for many Traverse City residents’ homes and garages.
County officials said Grand Traverse managed the storm without requesting outside resources. Regional coordination calls are continuing to assess whether any mutual aid can be offered to neighboring counties still dealing with the ice storm’s aftermath.