Northern Michigan Ice Storm: One Year Later
As a Michigander, at some point during the seemingly never-ending cold, dark winter, we’ve likely comforted ourselves with the reminder that at least we don’t have hurricanes or earthquakes. But about a year ago, a different type of natural disaster struck. At the end of March 2025, Northern Michigan was rocked by the most devastating ice storm in the state’s history.
For days, thousands of Michiganders lost power during subfreezing temperatures, roads were impassable, millions of trees were knocked down, and thousands of miles of power lines were destroyed. At its peak, the storm cut off power to about 100,000 people, and for days, nearly 40,000 homes and businesses remained without power. This had a serious and lasting impact on local businesses and natural resource industries like our lumber and maple syrup industries. The estimated cost to the maple syrup industry alone exceeded $3 million. In addition, local businesses across 12 counties faced staggering financial losses — millions of dollars between lost revenue and damaged products.
The unfortunate reality is that communities across Northern Michigan may face more storms of this magnitude in the years to come. As the Great Lakes region warms, areas that once reliably experienced snow are now more likely to see freezing rain, which is the primary cause of damaging ice storms. The connection is clear: the climate crisis is fueling extreme weather disasters like the March 2025 ice storm.
It’s no coincidence that 2025 was one of the hottest years ever recorded, and 2024 was, too. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory shows Great Lakes surface temperatures 4-5.5°F above long-term averages heading into winter. Warmer lakes store more heat and moisture later into winter, destabilizing seasonal weather patterns and creating damaging lake effect snowfall, volatile temperature swings, and other extreme weather impacts. Extreme weather is leading to death and destruction, and bankrupting residents across the country. Over the past five years, Michigan has suffered on average, more than four billion-dollar, climate-fueled disasters annually — a significant increase from the long-term average. Northern Michigan’s devastating ice storms show how the climate crisis is already driving up costs and harming families, farmers, and small businesses.
Unfortunately, the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which, as its namesake implies, is intended to protect the environment and the American people from dangerous pollution, is abandoning its mission. The Trump EPA is ignoring climate science and undermining progress in tackling the climate crisis by rolling back the Endangerment Finding. This effectively eliminates the EPA’s requirement to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change. The Administration also rolled back vehicle pollution standards. By ignoring mountains of scientific evidence, they are putting the American people, our environment, and our climate at risk.
But it doesn’t have to be this way: the path forward requires urgent investment in community resilience. Climate Action Campaign, alongside Michigan partners, will host an Extreme Weather People’s Hearing in Gaylord on Thursday, February 26, to mark the first anniversary of the ice storm and hear from residents, farmers, and small business owners who lived through the crisis and continue to shoulder its costs. You can attend this important event either virtually or in person. Click here to RSVP and learn more. Press interested in attending the event or viewing the livestream should email Katie Valentine, kvalentine@cacampaign.org.
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