October 30, 1993: Snow Stayed for the Winter
Winter came in early during the fall of 1993. The latter days of October saw highs in the 30s to near 40 at the National Weather Service (NWS) near Negaunee and snow fell each day from October 27 through Halloween. Three inches of snow lay on the ground on the morning of the 30th, and at least at the Weather Service site, it stayed the entire winter. The last inch of snow finally melted on April 11, 1994—that made for 164 days of continuous snow cover. October ended 3.3 degrees below average and November 1993 was 3.1 degrees below normal. While the first three weeks of December 1993 were mild, bitter cold set in just before Christmas, leading to one of the harshest winters of the 20th century.
The earliest permanent winter snow cover established in Marquette was in 1959. On November 5-6, a one-foot snowstorm blanketed the city and the final inch of snow did not leave until April 14, 1960—162 days later.
The average date for the establishment of a continuous winter snow cover at the NWS is November 21st. In the city and the southern U.P., a snow cover usually stays about the end of November or early December.
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