Season Killer: Revealing Michigan’s Spring Snowfall Records

While seeing snow in a Michigan March isn't surprising, it's never welcomed as gleefully as the first snowfall of the season, with eyes and tongues pointed to the skies as flakes fall on your face and into your mouth. The last accumulation of snow is usually also acknowledged by looking up, but with a glare accompanied by an angrily shaken fist. Let's dive into Michigan's records for the latest snowfalls, with significant accumulation (over 3 inches) that fell well into spring.

Related: Blizzard of 1978: When Mother Nature's Fury Shut Down Michigan

We'll look at cities in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas for proper Michigan balance, with the latter receiving snow much later than the former.

Michigan's Latest Snowfalls on Record With More Than Three Inches of Accumulation

Let's face it: Living in Michigan, nothing changes unless there are more than three inches of snow. We go about our lives and hope the salt/plow truck eventually makes it down our street. Late-season snowfall usually doesn't stick around long either, especially if it's a morning or overnight storm; it's not uncommon for several inches of snow to melt before lunch.

Detroit, Michigan's Latest Snowfall on Record

The Motor City had three inches of snow dumped on its streets on two occasions: April 29, 1909, and April 16-17, 1961. The most significant last-season snowfall for Detroit, Michigan, happened on May 9, 1923, when 6 inches of powder coated Motown. However, the latest snowfall on record for Detroit was set on May 21-22, 1883, with a total of 8 inches.

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Flint, Lansing, and Saginaw, Michigan's Latest Snowfall on Record

Much like Detroit, Flint, Michigan, took a pounding on May 9, 1923, only it received double the snow. The record set on that day was 12 inches of snow...in May. The city's residents couldn't have greeted that snow warmly at the time.

Related: Michigan Weather History: Highest, Lowest, Deepest, Wettest

Saginaw and Lansing, Michigan's latest snowfall records were also set on May 9, 1923. Saginaw saw 9 inches, while Lansing was buried under 11.5 inches of winter white.

Iron Mountain and Marquette, Michigan's Latest Snowfall on Record

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a different animal in terms of the latest snowfall of the year. While it was only 2 inches, Marquette's last snowfall in 1859 happened on June 2. The biggest late-season blizzard landed on May 10, 1990, and coated Marquette with 10.6 inches.

Meanwhile, on the west side of the UP sits Iron Mountain, Michigan. Iron Mountain's latest significant snowfall was 8 inches on May 11, 1990. Here's hoping these are records that stand for a long time and aren't broken this year or anytime soon.