DETROIT (WWJ) - It's officially November, but October did not go out without a memorable bang across Michigan.
Halloween 2023 is officially on record as the snowiest on record for Detroit, Flint and Saginaw while areas in West Michigan broke daily record snowfall totals for October 31, the National Weather Service said.
Detroit saw 0.2 inches of snowfall, which broke the previous record of 0.1 inches from 1993.
In the Tri-Cities region, Saginaw and Flint also posted new records of 0.5" and 1.1" of snowfall respectively.
While people living in Metro Detroit were bundled up for trick or treating as snow flurries went flying, some residents in West Michigan were digging themselves out.
National Weather Service meteorologist Rebecca Hanson told WWJ's Beth Fisher that trick-or-treating was even cancelled in some areas because of the snow.
'There was a really strong band of lake effect snow that moved onshore," Hanson explained. "It was sort of like a fire hose of snow, where we saw a around two inch per hour snowfall rates and some areas in the Muskegon area saw anywhere from 8 to 11 inches of snow."
According to the NWS, downtown Muskegon recorded 8.8 inches of snowfall on Tuesday, which not only breaks the record for Halloween, but also breaks a 113-year-old monthly record total for all October.
The previously monthly total record total for the area was 6" back in 1910.
The late October snow storm -- which is also the biggest snow event for Muskegon of any that happened before Nov. 14 -- knocked out power to 1,000 homes and business in the city as of 3:30 a.m.
Consumers Energy reported about 41,000 power outages total across their service area as a result of the heavy snow knocking down tree branches and power lines.
While we may think it's early for snow, forecasters say we typically see it in late October to early November most years. Like it or not, winter has officially come to Michigan.
