ST. IGNACE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The effects of the Blizzard of 2026 will stick around in the coming days in Northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The storm will continue to exit the region on Monday night with conditions improving on Tuesday.

How much snow fell?

While the actual amount of snowfall is hard to measure, some people on social media reported well over two feet of snow in the Eastern Upper Peninsula with even larger drifts. Wind gusts topped 45mph at times creating the dangerous blizzard conditions.

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Snowfall rates of 3″-4″ per hour were reported at times by Chippewa County Road Commission manager Robert Laitinen.

“We have a full crew working today and hopefully we will get at least one pass through most of the system,” Laitinen said. “There may be areas we have to open with blower equipment or other heavy equipment in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, Mackinac County 911 & Emergency Management director Bryce Tracey said parts of his county experienced 5′-10′ drifts.

“Definitely was impactful, but we haven’t had any major loss of life, or really widespread impactful emergencies across the county. So, from that standpoint, it’s been good for us,” Tracey said.

Michiganders working together.

Tracey was in continuous communication from other officials before and during the storm, and will be even after the storm exits. He said it is all about working together to keep the people informed.

He added, “I think most of our citizens and normal visitors that go through the area, they’re pretty resilient and they understand that there’s going to be adversities or difficulties faced during an event like this. I think the awareness and messaging from the weather services, both from local news, radio, the national weather service, and so on, forecasting and predicting that this was coming. It definitely helped out us and all of our preparation efforts and collaborative unified messaging to the public,” Tracey explained.

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Chippewa County Sheriff Mike Bitnar had to stop and help a few people who stuck in drifts while on duty on Monday. Bitnar said he received reports of 30″ of snow in Rudyard, Pickford and Stalwart. Chippewa County is the 2nd largest county in the Upper Peninsula which covers around 1,600 square miles.