Michigan’s Worst Blizzards: 1880-1920s

It seems like as more years go by, the winters keep changing: one winter has more warm days, the next winter may have more snow and freezing temperatures. It's too unpredictable, even for professional meteorologists.

I might sound like your grandfather saying this, but it's true: I used to walk to school in knee-deep snow. Squirrels would climb down a tree and accidentally get buried in a snowdrift. It did not matter how much snow we got: if there wasn't any ice on the roads, the school buses still made their treks out to the country to pick up the kids for classes...it took a lot for schools to call a 'snow day' back then.

Every year, the same weather people say “this winter looks to be one of the harshest ever” but it never is as bad as they make it sound. Sure, we get the sub-zero temperatures, deep snow, slush, and ice...but so what? We get that at some point every year.

Get our free mobile app

But yeah, we have definitely had some doozies when it comes to big storms and blizzards...oh, and ice storms where the ice clings to everything, down to the smallest twig on a tree and needle on a pine. Sure - we moan, whine, and complain whenever there's a huge snowfall and we have to shovel or pay someone to plow our driveways...big deal. It's expected, right?

While you may remember a harsh winter or two you experienced at some point in your life, various Michigan towns and cities have all had their share as well, going back even before recorded history...but for the following gallery, we'll stick to photos of past Michigan blizzards and heavy snowfalls from 1880 to the early 1920s...

MORE MICHIGANIA: