Historic ice storm cripples northern Michigan, leaves 90,000 without power

Myesha Johnson, The Detroit News on Mar 30, 2025

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A crippling ice storm has left parts of northern Michigan with up to an inch of ice, at least 90,000 residential and business customers without power and high wind and travel restrictions on the Mackinac Bridge.

"Crippling impacts from significant freezing rain continue, even if some places breach 32°F due to the sheer amount of ice that has built up on objects," the National Weather Service in Gaylord posted Sunday.

An ice storm warning continued for nine Michigan counties, with additional accumulations of up to 0.75 inches expected in spots before the warning expires at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Virtually all customers of the Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op and Alpena Power Co. were without power Sunday, some for more than 30 hours. Presque Isle reports about 32,000 electric members and reported about 32,000 outages.

Alpena Power serves about 16,750 electric customers covering 250 square miles in the northeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan and said 99% of its customers are without power. The two utilities serve much of Michigan's northeastern Lower Peninsula.

“This storm is unlike anything we have experienced," Presque Ile co-op President and CEO Allan Berg wrote to customers Sunday. "While we diligently prepare for any weather event, this event is extreme."

The outages are expected to last several days, both utilities reported. Alpena Power, for instance, lists only 32 full-time employees to service the area.

Consumers Energy's Outage Map showed more than 40,000 customers were affected by 700-plus outages Sunday afternoon.

“Mother Nature has thrown a tremendous challenge at Michigan, and we’re determined to respond, to get the lights back on and to help so many communities recover,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for Sunday's storm response, said in a release.

Consumers is encouraging those in the most severely affected areas not to travel unless necessary and to watch for downed wires and crews working along roads.

The Cloverland Electric Cooperative's outage map showed about 2,000 outages, with the majority in Mackinac County in the Upper Peninsula.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority also issued a high winds warning Sunday afternoon, with 24-34 mph winds on the Mighty Mac. It urged motorists to reduce their speed to a maximum of 20 miles per hour, turn on their flashers, and stay in the right-hand lane since ice is forming on the grating of the bridge.

Consumers Energy said 600 crews would be working to restore power and respond to potential upcoming thunderstorms.

The release said crews are "pre-staged across southern and mid-Michigan to respond and restore affected customers within 24 hours." And the energy company has moved mobile storm units with supplies closer to crews in Cadillac and Gaylord.

The majority of northern Michigan should expect to be restored Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the ice storm's impact as severe weather is expected Sunday evening too.

“We appreciate the patience of our customers and applaud the hard work of our coworkers, police and fire officials, and others who are helping these communities through a difficult day,” Kapala said. “We encourage people to turn to our website, our outage map and social media channels for updates, or to call 9-1-1 if they face an immediate need.”

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