Michigan’s 100+ Car Pileup During Winter Storm Featured In Discovery Documentary

Mid-January saw one of Michigan's wildest storms in recent history, and that's saying something. A week-long stretch dumped snow on GR, and Michigan tied its record for the lowest ever recorded temperature at -19°F. But that was at the end of the storm.

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The snowstorm began with a heavy, whiteout snowfall that caused a 100-car pileup on I-196, shutting down the highway and requiring all hands on deck for the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office. Now, 8 months later, this storm and the Sheriff's Office's efforts were featured in a Discovery documentary series.

Ottawa County Sheriff's Office via Facebook

In The Eye of the Storm Covers Michigan Snowstorm

In season four, episode twelve of In the Eye of the Storm, the episode titled "The 40-State Storm" covers Winter Storm Fern, a "monstrous 2,000-mile winter storm" that "unleashed chaos across 40 states". It covers the 100-car pileup that forced drivers to abandon their cars and shut down the interstate.

READ MORE: The Cost Of Chaos: Insurance Implications In Pileup Accidents

The episode aired on September 27th on Discovery+ and HBO Max and featured interviews with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, which shared details about what it was like to navigate such a large pileup and keep drivers safe.

The episode also covered a freight train crashing into a semi-truck and a car that drove onto a frozen pond, prompting first responders to rush in to save the trapped driver while avoiding falling through the ice themselves.

Earlier this season, the show also covered the EF-3 tornado that blew through Southwest MI in March. The episode is streaming now on Discovery+, Disney+/Hulu, HBO Max, and re-running on the Discovery Channel.