Last Saturday, Detroit had a 3.4 inch snow and some of my siblings were wondering how unusual that was for so late in the year.
This last snow event on April 18th yielded 3.4 inches of snow. This was double the normal for an average April and one of the latest 3 inch snowfalls. But it snowed more than 3 inches on May 9, 1923, more than 2 years before Dad was born! This was the latest ever for a snow of that magnitude.
It has snowed as much as 6 inches in Detroit in April in the past on 4 occasions, probably more in the first half of the month.
Last Snowfall of the Season Information in SE Lower Michigan
| Detroit | Measureable Snowfall (0.1 inch) | 1 inch or greater | 3 inches or greater |
| Average Date | April 8 | March 24 | February 27 |
| Earliest Date of Last Occurrence | February 27, 2010 | January 22, 1966 | - |
| Latest Date | May 22, 1883 | May 22, 1883 | May 9, 1923 |
| Average Monthly Snowfall Average Monthly Snowfall |
| SNOWFALL | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |
| DETROIT | 12.5" | 10.4" | 6.9" | 1.7" | Trace | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0.1" | 1.4" | 9.7" |
| FLINT | 13.1" | 10.8" | 6.5" | 2.3" | Trace | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0.4" | 2.5" | 11.8" |
| SAGINAW | 11.9" | 8.6" | 6.4" | 1.7" | Trace | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0" | 0.3" | 3.6" | 9.0" |
It also snowed more than an inch On May 22 in 83, not 1983 but 1883!
Of course it all melted fast but what did people do before cars, when they used horses for transportation and they had a huge snowstorm?
 | 19th century - How did people deal with ice on the roads during the horse-and-buggy era? - History Stack Exchange How did people deal with ice on the roads during the horse-and-buggy era? Ask Question Asked 4 years, 11 months ago. Active 4 years, 11 months ago. Viewed 6k times 31. 2. Before there were cars, people traveled in a horse-drawn carriage, sometimes over cobble-stone covered roads. Back in those days, was anything done to keep the traveled roads ... history.stackexchange.com |
I remember my dad telling me you could get horse shoes special for ice and snow. Just like the Amish of today you had one horse to pull the buggy or cutter depending if it was snow or ice
However, I would imagine most people would have changed horse shoes for normal gravel or mud roads in spring
Mud was the biggest problem in the country. I can remember even when we had cars the mud would be so bad we would detour into a field to get around mud hole
The people of Ill. begged the gov't to give them a decent gravel road as mud was a big problem in spring
Ice and snow in late Apr or May??
Horse taxis in town would quickly change shoes or not work until the ice melted
You just stayed home until it melted
Horses can get hurt badly on ice if not shod properly
Nobody would risk a horse on ice with out proper shoes