News Photo by Crystal Nelson Ossineke resident Steven Lijewski clears his driveway with an electric snowblower on Saturday while his 12-year old stepson Jordan Perkins helps shovel.

ALPENA — A heavy and wet blanket of snow covered Northeast Michigan during a winter storm that blew through the region over the weekend, dropping 13.7 inches of snow and causing thousands of power outages.

Meteorologist Matt Gillen, with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said Alpena County was “the sweet spot” for this storm. He said their official observer out of Alpena observed 13.7 inches of snow as of Sunday morning.

“That is actually, since records began in 1916, that is the tenth snowiest day on record,” Gillen said, noting the first snowiest day on record produced 18.2 inches of snow on Feb. 22, 1922.

Gillen said 14 inches of snow was recorded two miles northwest of Cathrow and 15 inches of snow five miles southwest of Lachine. He said the snowfall was the highest received across all of Northern Michigan and was “pretty impressive for a one-day snow storm.”

In the surrounding areas, the National Weather Service’s Gaylord office reported 11 inches of snow fell at Hoeft State Park in Rogers City, 10 inches of snow fell in Atlanta, and 9.5 inches of snow fell in Barton City.

Gillen said wind speed was fairly normal for the region, with a 37 mile per hour gust of wind recorded at 4:54 p.m. at the Alpena Regional Airport. However, he said the wind combined with the wet, heavy snow was enough to down tree limbs and power lines which occured in the region.

Crews with Alpena Power company were working hard Sunday to restore power to parts of Alpena, Hubbard Lake, Ossineke and surrounding areas.

The power company posted on its Facebook page that poles and power lines were damaged in the storm Saturday because of the weight of the snow, wind, and fallen trees. The company urged residents without power to have a plan in place for Sunday night and Monday in case power wasn’t restored to their homes by Sunday evening.

“Crews have been working diligently throughout the night to get everyone back on as safely and quickly as possible,” the post said. “We understand the challenges of being without power and appreciate your patience.”

Presque Isle Electric and Gas Co-op saw power outages peak on Saturday afternoon, when more than 3,000 Northeast Michigan homes were without power, according to the company’s outage map. The company said in a press release on Sunday that approximately 5,700 services lost power across the region.

PIE&G reported more than 700 homes remained without power around 12 p.m. on Sunday. As of 9:20 p.m. Sunday evening, 77 services combined in Alcona, Alpena and Oscoda counties were without power, including 74 in Alcona County, according to the outage map.