The early-season lake-effect snowstorm that dumped anywhere from 3 to almost 8 inches of snow across Door County on Nov. 9 was a surprise not just because it snowed more than expected but also because of the lake that caused the snow.
Lake-effect snowstorms in Door County aren’t unexpected, given the Peninsula is surrounded by the bay of Green Bay on the west and Lake Michigan on the east.
But the storm that struck the county throughout the day, the first snow of the 2025-26 season, got its lake effect from Lake Superior, more than 100 miles to the north.
A lake-effect storm that started so far away and dropped that much snow on Door County is very rare, said Roy Eckberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Green Bay.
“This was a pretty unique event to get those kinds of snow totals [in Door County] from a band of lake-effect snow off Lake Superior,” Eckberg said. “I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve never seen it before.”
Lake-effect snow also dumped nearly 10 inches of snow in Racine and Kenosha counties.
Coming off the Lake Superior shore, the storm wreaked havoc on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Eckberg said Michigan’s Marquette County generally saw about 12 inches of show with as much as 18 inches reported near Negaunee, a few miles west of Marquette, before continuing south through the U.P. and crossing into Door County. The weather service issued a winter weather advisory for Door County at 8:03 a.m. Nov. 3 and upgraded it to a winter storm warning at 10:13 a.m. Nov. 9.
The highest snow total in Door County reported to the National Weather Service was 7.8 inches one mile east of Egg Harbor. Five inches of snow were reported in locations along the Lake Michigan shore, in and around Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport, while 4.2 inches were reported in Forestville and about 3 inches in Sturgeon Bay.
Eckberg said the lake-effect snows were caused by a combination of unusually very cold air temperatures for this time of the year and relatively warm temperatures for the waters of the Great Lakes. He added the storm likely picked up extra moisture when it passed over the bay of Green Bay, which delayed it from fizzling out.
Door County Emergency Management director Jeb Salens said his department was expecting some snow, but not 3 to 8 inches.
“It was in the forecast there was a possibility we could get snow, but not to this extent,” Salens said.
However, especially considering it was the first measurable snowfall of the season and the amounts that fell, few incidents or issues were reported. Salens said his department issued a weather alert to those registered for the county’s Door County Ready notification system and snowplows were out quickly to work on clearing highways and other main roads.
Door County chief deputy Kyle Veeser said the sheriff’s office received only a couple of calls for snow-related accidents or vehicles sliding into ditches, no more than the usual vehicle-vs.-deer accidents the county sees at this time of the year. Veeser said he thought because the storm came on a Sunday, and a cold one with no major events taking place in the county that day, traffic on the roads might have been less than usual.
Salens said that having a heavy storm this early in the season also serves as a reminder for people to make sure they’re prepared for the weather when they head out in their vehicles.
“It’s a great example of why we constantly recommend that people have a full emergency car kit, especially with these early-season storms,” Salens said.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County hit with 3 to 8 inches of lake-effect snow from a faraway lake
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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