MARQUETTE, MI— Tens of thousands of northern Michigan homes and businesses lost power in a weekend storm that first produced ice, then dumped snow on top of it.
Saturday saw thunder, lightning, a mix of precipitation, and plunging temperatures, making travel slippery and dangerous. There was a brief lull until Sunday, when significant amounts of wet snow fell on top of the ice.
High winds and ice-covered tree limbs took down power lines. Several towns across the region set up warming centers for residents without electricity.
The northern Lower Peninsula continues to deal with outages. Governor Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center at noon on Sunday. Personnel are working with state and local officials as well as private sector partners to ensure any resource needs are met. Consumers Energy says it expects to restore power to most residents there by Tuesday.
As of 7:30 a.m. Monday, an outage map of various utilities indicated 11,610 Upper Peninsula customers were still without electricity.
