Of course, this slow start had some big help during the month of November, during which little or even no snow fell throughout the region. Amazingly, this is also the 3rd November in a row with limited snow, as can be seen in the table below.

November Snow Totals

	2009	2010	2011	Normal
Alpena	0.1"	0.6"	0.2"	8.2"
Gaylord	1.6"	5.1"	8.1"	19.6"
Houghton Lake	0.7"	1.4"	0.0"	9.2"
Sault Ste. Marie	4.1"	9.1"	6.9"	16.3"
Traverse City	0.0"	0.6"	2.4"	9.0"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So why is this occurring? Believe it or not, the reason has not been the same for each of the last 3 seasons. The jet stream is the key, and there are many factors that influence its average location from year-to-year. In the 2009-2010 season, the effects of El Niño, on the jet stream, were the main culprit. This season, and last season, the effects of La Niña are the main culprit. It turns out that, in general, neither El Niño nor La Niña effects are good for snowy winters in northern Michigan. Most of the time, they need to be either weak or non-existent.

 For Michigan to experience cold temperatures, for snow, that jet stream needs to buckle up toward Alaska and then downward deep into the eastern U.S. The jet stream will not stay in this configuration for the entire winter; it does vary and this will allow for opportunities for snow to fall and accumulate. However, averaged over the upcoming winter, this configuration will probably be in-place more times than not.  Go to the site for the full article-see helpfull links.