Broadcast trouble
Our Classical IPR signal at 88.5 FM in Mackinaw City was off the air this weekend, too, as ice caked the transmitter tower. Updates available here.
It could take until Tuesday or Wednesday for power to be fully restored in northern Michigan, after an ice storm brought down power lines across the region.
The ice put weight on power lines and toppled trees on Saturday and Sunday. The Michigan Department of Transportation reported sporadic road closures as crews responded to the damage.
As of midday Sunday, Great Lakes Energy — which supplies power to customers in northwest lower Michigan — reported more than 43,000 customers were in the dark.
Consumers Energy reported another 46,000 customers were without power in the central and eastern parts of the northern Lower Peninsula.
Consumers expected most of its customers to have power restored by Tuesday, but work in the hardest hit areas could take until Wednesday.
In a statement, the utility said more than 600 crews, including contractors and some from out of state, were working on the outages.
Meanwhile, emergency responders were busy dealing with blocked roads, downed power lines and other calls.
A person who answered the phone at Emmet County’s central dispatch said they were unable to give an update on the situation.
“Absolutely not,” the person told IPR on Sunday morning. “We are way too busy for that.”
Officials are also monitoring the Mackinac Bridge, where ice had built up along the suspension cables and towers.
As of midday Sunday, the link between Michigan's two peninsulas remained open, but James Lake, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said the bridge could shut down temporarily.
"Once that ice starts coming down from the suspender cables, from the towers, it comes down like spears into the road deck," Lake said. "Some of the pieces that come off the tower are like garage doors. When that happens, we’ll have no choice but to shut down for everyone’s safety."
On Sunday, a high wind warning was in effect on the bridge and drivers were asked to stay in the right lane, which is paved. The left lanes in each direction are made of metal grating, which was collecting ice.
IPR reached out to numerous other emergency agencies and utility companies and will update this story if they add new information.
Weather outlook
Ice is heavy, and even just a little accumulation can add hundreds of pounds of weight to trees and power lines.
The National Weather Service issues an ice storm warning for anything above 0.25 inches of ice. In this storm, accumulations have reached up to an inch in some places.
“Throw that on a pine tree up here, and you’ve got a lot of weight,” said Sean Christensen, a meteorologist in the Gaylord office of the National Weather Service. “And a lot of weight wants to come down to the ground.”
Christensen spoke to IPR on Sunday morning. He said freezing rain doesn’t form too often in northern Michigan.
The freezing rain is expected to turn into either rain or snow showers on Monday, so ice accumulation should start to ease. But there’s also no significant warmup coming, which means it will take a while for the ice to melt.
The forecast for the area called for lows in the mid-20s on Sunday night, with highs on Monday right around freezing. Warmer temperatures were predicted near Traverse City, which saw mostly rain over the weekend.
“Here in Otsego County, we’ve got quite a bit of ice on trees,” he said. “It’s going to take quite a bit of melting before we see this disappear.”
People were encouraged to stay home and off the roads.
IPR will update this story as more information becomes available.
