It’s been a strange winter in the Upper Peninsula

It’s been a strange winter indeed here in the Upper Peninsula. Schools across the U.P. canceled classes today including Northern Michigan University as wind gusts and rapidly falling temperatures created hazardous driving conditions. Gusts reached 54 miles per hour in Munising and stretched between 40 and 50 miles per hour in the Marquette County area Wednesday, causing blowing snow and poor visibility across roadways.

Meanwhile, a severe drop in temperatures from Tuesday into Wednesday along with freezing drizzle overnight only worsened matters, causing ice to form on roads according to meteorologist Greg Michels of the Marquette National Weather Service. Marquette saw a record high 57 degrees Tuesday which dropped to five degrees by Wednesday morning.

One U.P. town saw an even more extreme shift in temperature. Michels said, “There was a 60-degree difference between the high yesterday in Watersmeet and low this morning; it went from 66 to 6. That is one of the highest temperature differences in the U.P. that I’ve seen for a daily temperature difference so it goes to show how quickly things can change around here.” This latest bout of sub–freezing weather should come to an end sometime Thursday afternoon with above average temperatures expected to return on Friday.