A Look Back at Past Thanksgiving Holidays
With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, we will take a quick look back at the past 14 years and see how the weather has varied across Northern Michigan on this holiday. As seen below, the Thanksgiving Holiday can bring a variety of weather to Northern Michigan. Here is how the past 14 years have ranked at several locations with respect to their warmest average temperature on Thanksgiving day.
*Note: Thanksgiving day falls on the 4th Thursday of every November.
Alpena
High Low Mean
2006 55 24 39.5
2001 47 24 35.5
1998 42 28 35.0
1999 48 21 34.5
2003 41 27 34.0
2008 35 30 32.5
1997 39 25 32.0
2004 32 23 27.5
2002 31 22 26.5
1996 29 20 24.5
1995 30 19 24.5
2000 29 18 23.5
2007 30 15 22.5
2005 27 10 18.5
Traverse City
High Low Mean
2006 54 31 42.5
2001 51 27 39.0
1998 44 31 37.5
1999 48 25 36.5
2008 38 33 35.5
2003 40 30 35.0
1997 41 28 34.5
2004 35 28 31.5
2002 35 27 31.0
1996 34 27 30.5
1995 32 20 26.0
2000 28 19 23.5
2007 31 15 23.0
2005 28 12 20.0
Houghton Lake
High Low Mean
2006 55 26 40.5
2001 49 26 37.5
1998 41 31 36.0
2008 34 30 32.0
1999 44 20 32.0
2003 37 27 32.0
1997 36 27 31.5
2002 32 24 28.0
2004 32 22 27.0
1996 28 22 25.0
1995 28 17 22.5
2000 26 18 22.0
2007 30 10 20.0
2005 28 9 18.5
Sault Sainte Marie
High Low Mean
2006 49 30 39.5
1998 41 36 38.5
2001 43 31 37.0
1999 44 27 35.5
1997 37 29 33.0
2008 33 29 31.0
2003 34 26 30.0
1996 33 24 28.5
2002 33 17 25.0
2004 28 19 23.5
2007 26 16 21.0
2000 27 8 17.5
1995 27 7 17.0
2005 16 1 8.5
Gaylord
High Low Mean
2006 53 32 42.5
1998 44 35 39.5
2001 49 27 38.0
1999 43 26 34.5
1997 38 26 32.0
2003 36 28 32.0
2008 32 29 30.5
2004 34 26 30.0
2002 29 23 26.0
1996 28 20 24.0
1995 27 20 23.5
2000 26 17 21.5
2005 24 7 15.5
2007 27 1 14.0
As you can see the weather can vary from one extreme to the other. Last year, Northern Michigan experienced a fairly seasonable Thanksgiving with temperatures holding fairly steady around the freezing mark.
Now here is a look at precipitation including rain, snow and snow depth from several locations during the past 14 Thanksgiving holidays:
Alpena
Precip Snowfall Snow Depth
2007 0.26 5.5 5
1997 0.24 0.0 T
2008 0.09 1.6 5
1996 0.05 0.6 2
2005 0.03 1.3 2
1995 0.02 0.3 4
2003 0.02 0.0 0
2004 0.02 1.0 2
1998 T 0.0 0
2002 T T 0
2000 0.00 0.0 2
1999 0.00 0.0 0
2001 0.00 0.0 0
2006 0.00 0.0 0
Traverse City
Precip Snowfall Snow Depth
2005 0.26 3.5 4
1997 0.17 0.0 0
1996 0.17 1.7 5
1995 0.16 1.6 3
2007 0.14 1.1 1
2002 0.04 0.2 1
2003 0.01 0.0 0
2008 T 0.0 1
2004 T T 0
2000 0.00 0.0 8
1998 0.00 0.0 0
1999 0.00 0.0 0
2001 0.00 0.0 0
2006 0.00 0.0 0
Houghton Lake
Precip Snowfall Snow Depth
2005 0.54 11.9 15
1997 0.13 T T
2007 0.10 1.3 2
1996 0.06 0.8 3
2003 0.02 0.0 0
1995 0.01 0.5 4
2008 T T 7
2000 T T 4
2004 T T 3
1998 0.00 0.0 0
1999 0.00 0.0 0
2001 0.00 0.0 0
2002 0.00 0.0 0
2006 0.00 0.0 0
Sault Sainte Marie
Precip Snowfall Snow Depth
1997 0.29 0.2 T
1995 0.14 3.0 6
2008 0.12 1.4 4
1998 0.11 0.0 0
1996 0.10 1.3 4
2004 0.05 1.2 1
2005 0.05 1.3 5
2000 T T 7
2002 T T 1
2003 T 0.0 T
1999 0.00 0.0 0
2001 0.00 0.0 0
2006 0.00 0.0 0
2007 0.00 0.0 0
Gaylord
Precip Snowfall Snow Depth
2007 0.42 5.0 5
2005 0.34 11.0 10
2000 0.33 6.0 16
2004 0.14 2.0 T
1997 0.13 T T
1995 0.10 1.5 14
1996 0.04 0.5 2
2003 T T T
2008 T T 9
1998 0.00 0.0 0
1999 0.00 0.0 0
2001 0.00 0.0 0
2002 0.00 0.0 T
2006 0.00 0.0 0
One noticeable feature from above is the large snowfall event across Northern Lower Michigan on the Thanksgiving of 2005. Last Thanksgiving only saw some trace amounts of rain and snow. Nearly half of all Thanksgiving holidays in the last 14 years had some snow depth covering the ground.
For the latest 7 day forecast for this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday for some area cities, please click a link below:
Sault Sainte Marie
For additional information, forecast thoughts and ideas regarding the upcoming week, check out the Area Forecast Discussion. Return to News Archive 
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