Top weather stories in Metro Detroit for 2023
(CBS DETROIT) - The year 2023 brought damaging weather in many forms to southeast Michigan.
The year began with the launch of CBS News Detroit, and within days, we had our first winter storm on Jan. 25, 2023. Six to 8 inches of snow fell, causing traffic issues and morning crashes.
One, two, skip a few, and Feb. 22 arrived with an ice storm of dangerous proportions. Three-quarters of an inch of ice took out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, snarled traffic, and downed trees.
But the weather wouldn't give us a break.
On Feb. 27, another glaze of ice kept the lights out for Oakland County residents.
Then came the snow on March 3.
A large storm of heavy, wet snowfall created a blanket that caused accident after accident and brought another round of several hundred thousand outages, including to some who hadn't seen their power restored from the previous storm.
March 10 arrived with a parting gift of five inches of that wet, heavy snow once more. This is where winter ended, but our year was about to get really interesting.
Right off the bat on April 1, severe weather caused an EF-0 tornado right in downtown Dundee, damaging historic buildings. And by April 14, we were sweating through record heat.
After that, we got a break before severe weather began a rapid-fire round through the summer.
On June 15, a line of severe storms spawned a tornado in Detroit Beach that damaged homes and downed large trees before heading out over the water.
Severe thunderstorm wind hammered Dearborn on June 25, crashing trees through the rooftops of houses and downing dozens around Dearborn High School.
July arrived, and along with it, four different severe weather events for southeast Michigan.
On July 11, severe storms downed trees and knocked out power through parts of Macomb County.
Three days later, on July 14, several severe storms struck the region, with large hail and a tornado in Sanilac County just outside of Lexington.
The tornado damaged cabins and campers, while large hail and strong winds in Monroe County downed more trees and power lines.
Then came July 20, and some of the largest hail in recent years. Baseball-sized hail pulverized Davison along I-69 before dropping a bit to golf ball size and rolling to Lake St. Clair. Hail caused thousands of dollars in damages to vehicles and homes, including a car dealership in Davison where the windows on nearly every vehicle were shattered.
July 26 continued what seemed to be a month full of severe storms. Damaging wind and severe storms brought down trees and power lines through Metro Detroit, with more than 100,000 without power.
And, of course, there was the smoke…
Wildfire smoke from Canada choked the state, especially southeast Michigan. Detroit, at multiple times, experienced the worst air quality on the planet. This was the first time the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy had ever issued air quality alerts due to wildfire smoke.
August arrived and began at an easy pace before bringing us a severe 24 hours that many of us will remember.
The sun rose on Aug. 24 in the aftermath of constant torrential rainfall.
Flooding closed access to Detroit Metro Airport, stranded motorists on I-275, and inundated Canton. Within 24 hours, Canton would see another type of severe weather blow through, as would many others.
Aug. 24 goes down as the most tornadic August day in Michigan history.
An atmosphere primed for severe weather brought damaging straight-line winds more than 80 miles per hour and seven tornadoes statewide, six of which were in southeast Michigan. The largest was an EF-2 in Ingham County that continued into Livingston County before lifting along Van Buren Road. This tornado rode along I-96, tossing vehicles into the ditch and dropping trees. Three people were injured, and one person died in that tornado.
Aside from this one, tornadoes damaged Canton, Belleville, Newport, South Rockwood, and Gibraltar in southeast Michigan, along with one more in Plainfield Township out west.
We end this year with warmth and a top-five lack of December snowfall.
No matter what 2024 brings, the NEXT Weather Team is ready and will be here for you through every storm.
