Ice and snow bring crashes, road closures

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By WSBT News1

DETROIT (AP) — Less than a week after enjoying unseasonably warm and sunny weather, many in Michigan are getting an early taste of winter, with snow squalls, cold gusts and below-freezing temperatures.

Two people died Monday in weather-related crashes — one in the Detroit area, where icy roads caught some commuters off guard and dozens of vehicles spun out or bumped into each other.

A 42-year-old Westland man died in a wreck on Interstate 96, WDIV-TV reported. Police did not immediately release his name. A section of I-75 was shut down because of two crashes in Oakland County and a tractor-trailer rollover.

In Ottawa County's Holland Township, local resident Shawntoy Chambers, 23, died after crashing into a Jeep that had overturned on U.S. 31. The Jeep driver and two passengers were treated at Holland Hospital and released.

Sgt. Keith Garvelink told The Holland Sentinel weather conditions appeared to have caused the rollover.

AAA Michigan handled about 2,200 calls for service from around the state, spokeswoman Nancy Cain said. The auto insurance company also took well over 350 claims involving vehicle accidents.

Both numbers are very high, Cain said. The service calls are 25 percent above normal for this time of year.

An inch of snow or slightly more fell in the Detroit metro area, and 1 to 3 inches were recorded in southwestern Michigan.

Farther north, it was considerably deeper. Between 5 and 9 inches covered the snowbelt region of the northern Lower Peninsula, including portions of Antrim, Kalkaska, Crawford and Otsego counties.

In the Upper Peninsula, more than a foot fell near the community of Shingleton in Alger County, while 4 to 8 inches were reported near Lake Superior in a broad area reaching from Ironwood to Whitefish Point.

It's normal weather for mid-November across the state, said Brian Adam, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord. The 60- and 70-degree readings of a week ago may have been the last in Michigan until spring, he said.

"We never say never in this business, but we but we probably won't see that kind of stuff again," Adam said.

Snow was tapering off in most areas Monday afternoon. Tuesday was expected to be mostly sunny with highs in the 40s, but another storm system could bring a mix of snow and rain to the state by Wednesday morning, forecasters said.

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