Michigan's Upper Peninsula Travel Blog

As you probably heard on the news (and labeled as “Fall Fury” on The Weather Channel), the Midwest got hit with a pretty big storm and the entire Upper Peninsula took part in the action. The last couple days have been extremely windy and rainy! The wind continues to gust outside but the High Wind Warnings have been called off. Many areas saw lots of trees fall, which caused localized electricity outages. The storm moved in from the south-southwest so Lake Michigan and Lake Superior saw their share of big waves. Buoys located in the middle of Lake Superior were reporting waves as high as 16 feet!

A couple interesting points about this storm:

• The storm was said to be very similar to the one that sank the vessel the Edmund Fitzgerald back on November 10, 1975.
• It set a new record for the lowest barometric pressure for a non-tropical storm. At 956 millibars (the previous record was just above 962 millibars), it is the type of pressure that one often sees in a Category-3 strength hurricane!

Here were the peak wind gusts for a couple spots in Alger County:

• Munising: 51mph
• Doe Lake: 47mph
• Grand Marais: 68mph

On Lake Superior, Rock of Ages (just south of Isle Royale) had a wind gust of 78mph! Holy Wah! View complete list of Upper Peninsula peak wind gusts.

In other news, this Sunday is Halloween! For those looking to trick-or-treat on Sunday, the hours will be from 5pm to 7pm in Munising. Be safe!

Have a video clip or photo of the storm? Please share it with us and we’ll post it on our blog!

There was quite the buzz last week as parts of the U.P. finally saw some snow in the air. Most areas just saw snow flurries while spots to the east had enough to cover the ground momentarily. Although the first snowfall was a bit later than average, the snow will definitely be here before we know it. Make sure to visit the Explore Munising Weather & Forecast page to see the latest weather conditions and snow depths.

Speaking of cold weather and snow, the Alger County Parks & Recreation Fitness Center is great place to visit during the winter months to maintain your health and well-being. Located at 109 West Superior Street, in downtown Munising, they have an impressive fitness center to exercise and stay fit. The Center offers daily, weekly and monthly passes so no matter how long you’re in Munising, you can continue staying in shape and follow your regular exercise routine. The Fitness Center has treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, free weights and a universal machine. They’re open from 6am to 10pm, 7 days a week. For more information, please call (906) 387-5636.

Treadmills at the Alger Parks & Rec Fitness Center in Munising

Universal machine and other equipment at the Fitness Center

After 5 years of road construction, County Road H-58 is officially paved from Munising to Grand Marais. Today, the Alger County Road Commission, MDOT, the National Park Service and other dignitaries celebrated the completion of the paving project with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Besides the 19 miles of road paving, the project also included a new bridge over the Hurricane River, which is almost completed as well. They anticipate all work to be done by October 31st. If you were ever lucky enough to drive on H-58 when the 19 miles wasn’t paved, it was not a fun drive. Between the chatter bumps and dust, this newly paved road will be a smooth, enjoyable drive from Munising to Grand Marais. With the paved road come faster driving speeds, so please be careful and drive the posted speed.

As for other news, the weather has been great over the last several days. We’ve had clear skies and temperatures near 60 degrees. I just heard on the radio that, on average, we typically receive our first measurable snowfall by yesterday (Oct. 14th). It hasn’t happened and the forecast isn’t showing any signs of it either. Myself, I’ve already started to plan for it by doing a tune-up on the ol’ snowblower. You do not want to be without one when the snow hits!

We’re already closing in on the weekend and it’s been another great week in Upper Michigan. The fall colors have been spectacular and if you haven’t seen them, there’s still time. Although most areas are just past the “peak,” there are still bright colors to be found and even the post-peak colors are pretty.

After a few years of construction, County Road H-58 will officially reopen today. The road is now paved all the way from Munising to Grand Marais and this is a great drive! Just yesterday I was driving on parts of it and there’s still quite a bit of fall colors to be seen – beautiful tree canopies over the road. I highly recommend taking this drive to see the fall colors, various waterfalls and Lake Superior overlooks.

If you’re wondering about the temperatures, it’s been in the low-60′s during the day with blue skies and on Friday they’re calling for 70 degrees! So, pack your bags and make a trip to the great north! See you soon!

Fall Colors Around Munising:

Looking west on highway M-28

Munising hillside

Overlooking Munising Bay