CROTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Michigan was on a weather roller coaster Monday, with rivers overflowing their banks, hundreds of thousands of people losing power, mid-70s temperatures expected to tumble toward freezing and possible record-breaking snowfall in some areas.
Monday’s high reached 75 degrees west of Detroit at Ypsilanti, the National Weather Service said. From there, the temperature is expected to drop about 50 degrees to an overnight low of 23-27.
A wide swath of southeastern Michigan will see 1-2 inches of snow by Tuesday, the weather service said.
The spring snowstorm could shatter Flint’s 82.9-inch seasonal record. Flint was 0.6 inches shy of the mark Monday.
Detroit would need 1.9 inches of snow to overturn its record of 93.6 inches, set the winter of 1880-1881.
Rising water from days of heavy rain and melt-off from the deep snow threatened some homes in western Michigan on Monday.
The Muskegon River was 1.5 feet over its banks at Evart and 2.8 feet over flood stage near Croton Dam in Newaygo County’s Croton Township.
“People need to respect what Mother Nature is saying, and when we don’t do that, that’s when we run into some problems,” Michael Wells, a state Department of Natural Resources officer said as he used police tape to close access points near the river.
“It could be dangerous to come down here, and if someone slips and falls, they could easily get swept downriver,” Wells told The Grand Rapids Press.
Wells said. The crest at the dam, about 35 miles north of Grand Rapids, was expected to reach 3.4 feet over flood stage Wednesday and remain high through next week, the weather service said.
That prompted county emergency services director Abby Watkins to tell some people who live downstream to evacuate now. Watkins also warned residents in more than 200 other homes along the river to prepare for evacuation.
“All residents living on the Muskegon River need to prepare to evacuate now,” said Watkins.
Flooding also was reported at the Pere Marquette, Tittabawassee and White rivers. And flooding is expected Tuesday on the Cass River at Frankenmuth, the weather service said.
In Midland County, authorities opened a shelter for anyone displaced by the rising Tittabawassee River, which was 2 feet above flood stage at Midland on Monday afternoon.
DTE Energy Co. and CMS Energy Corp. said about 285,000 homes and businesses have lost power since windstorms hit Saturday, and about 103,000 remained powerless Monday afternoon.
Detroit-based DTE said about 80,000 of its 150,000 affected customers were offline Monday afternoon. Jackson-based CMS Energy said 23,,000 of its 135,000 affected customers remained offline Monday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.