Northern Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula snow; what made May 1 so freaky?

April showers didn't bring May flowers in 2023 for the Upper Peninsula but instead, record May snowfall to start off the month. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is one of the snowiest places in the lower 48 states east of the Rocky Mountains, but on Monday, many cities set a new one-day snow total record for May. 

Many areas from Marquette, Michigan to Ashland, Wisconsin received well over 6 inches of snow with some spots well over 2 feet. Historically, snow is quite common in May up north – but surpassing the previous record by 5 inches is anything but. 

Snowfall forecast for northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula Saturday night, Apr. 29 for Monday morning, May 1 snowfall totals

With some of the most complete climate data of the surrounding cities in the UP, if you take Marquette's one-day total of 19.8 inches from this system, it gives you a clearer picture of just how out of the ordinary it was.

The previous record was 14.2 inches in a single May day back in 1990. By surpassing that number by nearly 40%, it begs the question: Proportionally, what if Milwaukee had a similar freak snow that much above our record value?

One-day snowfall total for Marquette, Michigan compared to the previous record

Given this is totally hypothetical, and data for the Milwaukee area only goes back to the late 1800s, there's no way to exactly estimate. One way is to set up a proportion. If Milwaukee was to see 40% more than it's current record May snowfall that would be like us getting 4.5 inches of snow in one day. 

It doesn't sound all that impressive, but that's a number we haven't even gotten close to since 1935. It's been almost 100 years since we had our last 3-inch May snow, and it's very possible we'll never see snow like it again in our lifetimes. 

Milwaukee one-day snowfall record and its proportional equivalent to Marquette's recent snow

In conclusion, Michigan's and northern Wisconsin's snow was a freaky large late-season snow that surpassed many historical totals for May. And it has once again proved that we're all over winter and would sell our souls for some warmer weather.