GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The first day of February brought the first big snowstorm of the season to West Michigan. Sure, we’ve seen plenty of snow this winter (and much of it before winter even started!), but the large majority of that snow has been of the lake-effect variety.
However, while it can be tempting to call every big snowstorm a “blizzard,” this system didn’t quite meet the official criteria.
According to the National Weather Service, a blizzard is when snow or blowing snow reduces visibility to 1/4 mile or less, with winds sustained or frequently gusting to 35 mph or higher for a span of at least three hours.
Several locations got close to those conditions. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids recorded wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph for three hours Sunday afternoon with visibility at 1/2 mile. Places like Kalamazoo and Battle Creek saw the heavy snow with 1/4 mile visibility for three hours, but wind gusts were generally less than 30 mph during that time.
Total snowfall amounts ranged from 6.5″ in Muskegon and nearly 10″ in Grand Rapids to between 12 and 18 inches in most places south of Grand Rapids.
Here is a full list of snow reports from the National Weather Service:
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
925 AM EST MON FEB 2 2015
...TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
...DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0930 PM SNOW SCHOOLCRAFT 42.12N 85.63W
02/01/2015 M15.0 INCH KALAMAZOO MI TRAINED SPOTTER
1000 PM SNOW MOUNT PLEASANT 43.59N 84.78W
02/01/2015 E6.0 INCH ISABELLA MI TRAINED SPOTTER
1100 PM SNOW 2 SSE KALAMAZOO 42.25N 85.57W
02/01/2015 E14.2 INCH KALAMAZOO MI TRAINED SPOTTE
1140 PM SNOW MATTAWAN 42.21N 85.79W
02/01/2015 E13.0 INCH VAN BUREN MI PUBLIC
1145 PM SNOW 3 NW NEW ERA 43.58N 86.39W
02/01/2015 E5.0 INCH OCEANA MI PUBLIC
1145 PM SNOW PORTAGE 42.20N 85.59W
02/01/2015 M13.7 INCH KALAMAZOO MI STORM CHASER
0800 AM SNOW 3 W HOWARD CITY 43.40N 85.53W
02/02/2015 M6.0 INCH MONTCALM MI PUBLIC
1200 AM SNOW 2 NE BATH 42.84N 84.42W
02/02/2015 M12.6 INCH CLINTON MI PUBLIC
1200 AM SNOW BATTLE CREEK 42.30N 85.23W
02/02/2015 E18.5 INCH CALHOUN MI PUBLIC
1200 AM SNOW 5 SW SHEPHERD 43.48N 84.77W
02/02/2015 E6.0 INCH ISABELLA MI STORM CHASER
1200 AM SNOW 1 WNW KALAMAZOO 42.28N 85.61W
02/02/2015 M14.1 INCH KALAMAZOO MI COCORAHS STORM TOTAL. MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT TOTAL 13.8 INCH.
1210 AM SNOW 3 ESE LANSING 42.69N 84.50W
02/02/2015 E10.0 INCH INGHAM MI COCORAHS
1227 AM SNOW OSHTEMO 42.26N 85.68W
02/02/2015 M15.0 INCH KALAMAZOO MI TRAINED SPOTTER
0100 AM SNOW 3 WSW CASCADE 42.89N 85.54W
02/02/2015 M9.1 INCH KENT MI OFFICIAL NWS OBS
0209 AM SNOW 1 E KENTWOOD 42.88N 85.58W
02/02/2015 M10.5 INCH KENT MI PUBLIC
0421 AM SNOW BELLEVUE 42.44N 85.01W
02/02/2015 E12.0 INCH EATON MI TRAINED SPOTTER
0530 AM SNOW BLOOMINGDALE 42.38N 85.96W
02/02/2015 M12.0 INCH VAN BUREN MI CO-OP OBSERVER
0604 AM SNOW 7 NNW SCOTTVILLE 44.04N 86.34W
02/02/2015 M4.1 INCH MASON MI COCORAHS
COCORAHS STATION SCOTTVILLE 6.6 NNW /MI-MS-1/ SNOW DURATION 24 HOURS.
0630 AM SNOW 1 ENE BEECHWOOD 42.80N 86.12W
02/02/2015 M11.0 INCH OTTAWA MI CO-OP OBSERVER
CO-OP OBSERVER STATION HOLLAND /HOLM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0635 AM SNOW 4 SSW HASTINGS 42.59N 85.32W
02/02/2015 M18.0 INCH BARRY MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION HASTINGS 4.3 SSW /MI-BR-13/ SNOW DURATION 24 HOURS.
0645 AM SNOW 4 NNE SANDSTONE 42.31N 84.48W
02/02/2015 M14.3 INCH JACKSON MI STORM CHASER
0645 AM SNOW 3 WNW DELTON 42.52N 85.46W
02/02/2015 E14.0 INCH BARRY MI TRAINED SPOTTER
0700 AM SNOW 1 SSW WAVERLY 42.72N 84.63W
02/02/2015 M9.7 INCH EATON MI OFFICIAL NWS OBS
0700 AM SNOW 2 WSW CLOVERVILLE 43.18N 86.20W
02/02/2015 M6.5 INCH MUSKEGON MI OFFICIAL NWS OBS
0700 AM SNOW 1 W HASTINGS 42.65N 85.30W
02/02/2015 M12.5 INCH BARRY MI CO-OP OBSERVER CO-OP OBSERVER STATION HASTINGS /HASM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW BIG RAPIDS 43.70N 85.48W
02/02/2015 M6.2 INCH MECOSTA MI CO-OP OBSERVER CO-OP OBSERVER STATION BIG RAPIDS WATER WORKS /BGRM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW GREENVILLE 43.18N 85.25W
02/02/2015 M7.0 INCH MONTCALM MI TRAINED SPOTTER
0700 AM SNOW 1 WNW ALMA 43.38N 84.67W
02/02/2015 M5.5 INCH GRATIOT MI CO-OP OBSERVER CO-OP OBSERVER STATION ALMA /ALMM4/ SNOW DURATION 24 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW 1 NNE HOPKINS 42.64N 85.76W
02/02/2015 M10.8 INCH ALLEGAN MI CO-OP OBSERVER
CO-OP OBSERVER STATION HOPKINS 1 N /HPKM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW 1 NNE SAINT JOHNS 43.02N 84.55W
02/02/2015 M9.2 INCH CLINTON MI CO-OP OBSERVER
CO-OP OBSERVER STATION SAINT JOHNS /STJM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW HART 43.70N 86.37W
02/02/2015 M6.0 INCH OCEANA MI CO-OP OBSERVER CO-OP OBSERVER STATION HART /HRTM4/ SNOW DURATION 24 HOURS.
0700 AM SNOW 1 WNW REEMAN 43.45N 86.03W
02/02/2015 M6.7 INCH NEWAYGO MI CO-OP OBSERVER CO-OP OBSERVER STATION 4 WSW FREMONT /FREM4/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0724 AM SNOW 4 SE MCBRIDE 43.31N 84.99W
02/02/2015 M6.0 INCH MONTCALM MI COCORAHS
COCORAHS STATION STANTON 5.0 ENE /MI-MT-5/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0734 AM SNOW 1 SSW ALLENDALE 42.97N 85.96W
02/02/2015 M5.8 INCH OTTAWA MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION ALLENDALE 1.3 SSW /MI-OW-30/ SNOW DURATION 24 HOURS.
0735 AM SNOW 2 WSW LANSING 42.70N 84.59W
02/02/2015 M12.0 INCH INGHAM MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION LANSING 1.9 WSW /MI-IH-31/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0736 AM SNOW 4 NNE PAW PAW 42.27N 85.86W
02/02/2015 M15.8 INCH VAN BUREN MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION PAW PAW 3.6 NNE /MI-VB-4/SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0808 AM SNOW 5 SSE WOODVILLE 43.61N 85.64W
02/02/2015 M4.1 INCH NEWAYGO MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION WHITE CLOUD 7.5 ENE /MI-NW-8/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0817 AM SNOW 2 W WAYLAND 42.67N 85.68W
02/02/2015 M11.1 INCH ALLEGAN MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION WAYLAND 2.0 W /MI-AN-1/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0819 AM SNOW 4 W PORTAGE 42.21N 85.66W
02/02/2015 M17.0 INCH KALAMAZOO MI COCORAHS COCORAHS STATION KALAMAZOO 6.0 SW /MI-KZ-1/ SNOW DURATION 48 HOURS.
0830 AM SNOW 4 ENE RIVES JUNCTION 42.42N 84.39W
02/02/2015 M12.9 INCH JACKSON MI TRAINED SPOTTER
0830 AM SNOW 1 SSW EAST GRAND RAPIDS 42.94N 85.61W
02/02/2015 M9.1 INCH KENT MI CO-OP OBSERVER
0830 AM SNOW 3 SW IRVING 42.66N 85.47W
02/02/2015 M14.5 INCH BARRY MI CO-OP OBSERVER
0830 AM SNOW 2 S ROCKFORD 43.10N 85.56W
02/02/2015 M8.8 INCH KENT MI AMATEUR RADIO
0830 AM SNOW OKEMOS 42.71N 84.41W
02/02/2015 M11.8 INCH INGHAM MI PUBLIC
0845 AM SNOW 2 NE GALESBURG 42.31N 85.40W
02/02/2015 M15.3 INCH KALAMAZOO MI PUBLIC
0845 AM SNOW 4 SSE BATH 42.77N 84.41W
02/02/2015 M9.0 INCH CLINTON MI PUBLIC
