Hurricane Andy

Hurricane Andy is the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclone of the 2017 Great Lakes Hurricane Season so far, and among one of the most powerful blizzards in the 2016 - 17 North American Winter.

Meteorological History
On January 16th, an Alberta clipper started to behave unusually. The storm's forward speed started to slow down and it started to gain strength. The storm gained gale-force winds later that day. By this time, the NHC labeled the system as a Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) and started issuing advisories on the system. Tropical Storm Watches then started to get issued for the northern shore of Michigan along Lake Superior, along with Winter Storm Watches, considering the arctic air in the forecast equation. The next day, the storm had a warm-core center and 50 MPH sustained winds, and the NHC upgraded the PTC to Tropical Storm Andy. Upon the upgrade, all the Tropical Storm Watches were upgraded to Tropical Storm Warnings, and Winter Storm Warnings got issued as well, with forecasts calling for up to 15 to 28 inches of snow. By this time, the new Storm Surge Warnings got issued along the Lake Superior coastline, now being out of the prototype stage. The NHC predicted storm surge of 3 to 5 feet along the coast. On January 18th, Andy made its first landfall as a 60 MPH tropical storm. As Andy traveled across the UP of Michigan and was heading toward Lake Michigan, the storm maintained a stable intensity at 60 MPH despite the cold snow pack on the ground, and intensified quickly to a 70 MPH tropical storm upon entering the warm waters of Lake Michigan. Early on January 19th, Andy became a 75 MPH Category 1 Hurricane. The projected path of Hurricane Andy had the storm making a right turn towards the West Coast of Michigan. By this time, Hurricane Warnings were put up along the western shoreline of Michigan, along with Winter Storm Warnings. The Storm Surge Warnings issued had storm surge up to 15 feet in the forecasts. On January 19th, Hurricane Andy intensified to a Category 2 hurricane and started to make the turn east towards Michigan. Before landfall, Andy intensified to a Category 3 major hurricane, becoming the earliest recorded major hurricane in the Great Lakes basin and the earliest recorded major hurricane overall in the Western Hemisphere. On January 20th, Andy made landfall as a 120 MPH Category 3 hurricane near Saint Joseph, Michigan. Andy started to weaken upon landfall and was an 80 MPH Category 1 Hurricane by January 21st near Jackson, Michigan. Andy maintained an 80 MPH Category 1 intensity as it crossed the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, while dumping as much as 4 to 5 feet of snow, with some rain on top of it for where the core passed over. Later that same day, Andy reemerged into the warmer waters of Lake Erie and rapidly re-intensified to a 105 MPH Category 2 hurricane. From there, Andy continued to rapidly intensify throughout January 22nd as it brought severe storm surge to the Lake Erie coastline along with heavy snow. Late on January 22nd, Andy became a 160 MPH Category 5 hurricane, with a projected path towards Buffalo, New York. Early on January 23rd, just before the storm's third landfall, Andy reached his peak intensity of 180 MPH. The storm made landfall in Buffalo the same day and did not weaken over land. It soon moved into the waters of Lake Ontario and it churned its waters with a steady 180 MPH Category 5 intensity. Before its landfall in Sackets Harbor, New York, Andy started to weaken as it underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, weakening the storm to a 150 MPH Category 4 Hurricane. The storm made landfall late on January 24th as a 150 MPH Category 4 hurricane and then started to diminish rapidly as it moved inland. On January 25th, Andy was an 80 MPH Category 1 hurricane undergoing transition to an extratropical cyclone and at 12:00 PM EST, Andy was no longer tropical, and the NHC stopped tracking the remnants late on January 25th, with no chance of regaining tropical characteristics. The storm caused $4 billion in damages, took 33 lives, and dropped as much as 90 inches of snow in some locations.

Michigan
Upon being classified as a tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Warnings were issued for most of the Lake Superior coastline, along with Storm Surge warnings for storm surge of 3 to 5 feet. People in Marquette, Michigan hunkered boats down as rough surf would likely harm the boats. People in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan near the Lake Michigan coastline were placed under evacuation orders, with locations including South Haven, St. Joseph, and more. Snow plows and extra utility crews were sent to the state due to expected power outage and roads to be impassible due to heavy snowfall.

Ohio
As Andy was crossing the LP of Michigan, evacuations were ordered along the Lake Erie coastline as the storm was expected to explosively intensify once it entered the waters of Lake Erie. Tolls were waived on the Ohio Turnpike in order to get people away from coastal areas in a quick and orderly fashion. Like with Michigan, extra utility and snow plows were sent to the state of Ohio to help clear the roads.