Michigan may not always be the first state that comes to mind when it comes to great skiing. Located in the Midwest, it is an area not commonly associated with large mountains. Michigan, however, has the second most ski resorts of any state with over 40 ski areas. Michigan also has a unique set of features that set it apart from all of the other states within its vicinity and really anywhere else on the planet. Michigan is surrounded on all sides by some of the largest lakes on Earth — the Great Lakes. These massive bodies of water generate powerful lake-effect storms, capable of dumping feet of snow on surrounding areas in just a matter of hours.
Michigan also has a unique shape as far as state shapes go. It is divided into two peninsulas, making it the largest state east of the Mississippi River by total area — a distinction largely owed to its 40,000 square miles of Great Lakes water within its borders. The mitten-shaped lower peninsula, where over 90% of the population lives, sees far lower snow totals than the remote upper peninsula.
The upper peninsula is much more rugged than the relatively flat lower peninsula. Formed by the uplift of the Canadian Shield, the region is dotted with rocky outcroppings and small mountains. The uplifts are perfect for catching the massive winter storms that howl off the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, Lake Superior.
These conditions often lead to massive snow totals. The Keweenaw Peninsula, jutting out into the mighty lake, sees the most impressive totals in the state. Mohawk, Michigan, on the peninsula, saw a staggering 361 inches of snowfall in the 2025-26 winter season. Mt. Bohemia, one of the most extreme resorts in the region, sits only about 40 minutes from Mohawk and saw similarly exceptional totals. Petoskey, near ski resorts Boyne Highlands and Nubs Nob in the northern lower peninsula, saw 170.5 inches — 138% of the normal snowfall amount according to the National Weather Service.
Comparatively, Telluride in Colorado only received 122 inches of snowfall, just 44% of its average. On the other side of the state, Winter Park only saw 197 inches of snow, 56% of its average snowfall of 349 inches. Alta Ski Area in Utah had its least snowy season on record in 2025-26, with 321 inches of snow measured at the Collins Study Plot — just 2.5 inches below the previous record low set in 2014-15 (323.5 inches).
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These totals show an interesting shift in the winter weather pattern over the past season. While Michigan usually receives a decent amount of snow, it usually pales in comparison to the high-elevation ski areas of the western U.S. The main difference is that unlike the western U.S., Michigan has abundant freshwater resources from the Great Lakes and does not rely on snowmelt to sustain its water needs. Only time will tell how the lack of snowfall will affect the western U.S. as we enter the warmest portion of the year.
