SAULT STE. MARIE — A weekend ice storm has left poor road conditions and power outages across Northern Michigan and much of the state.
In Chippewa County, roads were bad enough that many schools including Pickford Public Schools and Sault Area Schools were closed on Monday as a layer of ice covered area roads and sidewalks.
Overall, Sault avoided the worst of the storm. No major icefall or accumulation was reported to the National Weather Service from the Chippewa County area.
According to the National Weather Service, the county received 1.8 inches of snowfall during the storm, in addition to some icy accumulation on sidewalks, trees and power lines. However, the main portion of the storm didn’t push this far north.
While much of Northern Michigan is dealing with power outages, Sault Ste. Marie seems to have avoided the worst of that as well.
Cloverland Electric, which provides power to most of the Eastern Upper Peninsula, reports 5.29% of Chippewa County is without power as of Monday morning. The utility is reporting similar numbers in nearby counties: 4.97% in Delta County and 1.24% in Luce County.
More than half of Cloverland Electric customers in Mackinac County are currently without power. The outages are a result of downed power lines due to the high winds of the ice storms. Cloverland has not announced when power may be restored.
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
Read More: Northern Michigan ice storm spares Sault Ste Marie