Noah Johnson Daily Press A group of students checks out Dean’s Barbershop in the Antique Village at the U.P. State Fairgrounds on snowy day.

ESCANABA — It’s been another mild winter in the Escanaba area regarding snowfall. Still, the area is on track to accumulate more snow than last year.

According to information from the Escanaba Water Treatment Plant, a total of 22.1 inches of snow has fallen in the area since the start of November 2024.

For November, December, and January, the area saw 11.1 inches of snow, nearly matching the total in February alone, with 11 inches accumulated.

February 2025 outdid February 2024, which only saw 7 inches of snowfall.

The current total of 22.1 inches is almost as much as the winter of 2023-24, where the area saw 23.5 inches of snow from October to April.

In comparison, 60.3 inches had fallen in the winter of 2022-23, 27.7 inches were recorded in the winter of 2020-21, 65.6 inches were recorded in the winter of 2019-20, 71.1 inches were recorded in the winter of 2018-19, 53 inches were recorded in the winter of 2017-18, 29.7 inches were recorded in the winter of 2016-17 and 33.9 inches were recorded in the winter of 2016-16.

The data is compiled each month by the Escanaba Water Treatment Plant.

The National Weather Service (NWS) pointed to other areas in the U.P. where snow has accumulated in large numbers. The NWS measures snowfall each year from July 1 to June 30.

The Negaunee area has received 108 inches of snow so far, while the Munising area has nearly 200 recorded inches and sits at 199.4 inches so far. The Calumet area is well over 200 inches, coming in at 246.4 inches so far. Areas closer to the Escanaba area, such as the Menominee area, have seen a total of 27.1 inches so far.

NWS Lead Meteorologist Joe Phillips weighed in, saying snowfall totals are expected to surpass recorded numbers from last year.

“Last year was a very low snowfall year across the entire upper Michigan. In fact, most of the Great Lakes had a low snowfall year last year,” Phillips said.

He explained warmer weather contributed to the lack of snowfall influenced by a strong El Niño.

“When that occurs in the Upper Peninsula, we tend to have longer periods of warmer air over the area, and It also promotes a lot more drier air over the area at times. So the combination of that, the fact that the lakes remained warm and primarily ice-free last winter, it all contributed to a combination of low snow, and when we did have precipitation last year, some of it was actually rain because of how warm it was,” he said.

This year, the El Nino signal has weakened, transitioning into a weak El Nino.

“That’s certainly helped, and when that occurs, you tend to have a colder air that sinks into the central planes,” Phillips explained.

He said once you average the high and low temperatures, it’s been roughly normal for a typical winter regarding temperatures.

“Because of that, we’re seeing more precipitation as snow across the area,” he said.

Phillips provided an outlook for the rest of winter, saying temperatures across the northern planes are expected to be above normal for the next couple of weeks.

“We’re just on the edge of that signal. So, it’s looking statistically like it will see some more normal conditions at least through March. But because we’re on the edge of that warmer signal, it’s possible we could have a few more warmer-than-normal days mixed in,” he said.

He said data also indicates an above-normal amount of precipitation, which could lead to more snowfall throughout March.

“It’s entirely possible we could have a bigger snowstorm in the March time frame. Obviously, so much of that would depend on the track of the system,” Phillips explained.

With the recent warmer temperatures, Phillips reminds the public to exercise caution when out on the ice.

“Unfortunately, we’re seeing more ice breaking up right now, and thus, we’re seeing more incidents where snowmobiles are going through the ice where, you know, people are misunderstanding the thickness of the ice,” he said.

He added that it’s essential to be prepared with proper gear, including life jackets, just in case the worst does happen.

“I would encourage everybody that if they decide to go on ice either to fish or to recreate, however they decide to, that they understand that no ice is safe. That the warm temperatures recently have really eroded a lot of the ice thicknesses, and so it might be deceptive,” he said.