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Shaded-relief map of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
MICHIGAN · CHIPPEWA COUNTY

Sault Ste. Marie

13,288 people, 720 ft above sea level in Chippewa County.

720 ftElevation, city center
13,288People, 2024 estimate
15 sq miLand area
Clear 38°
Clear now Dew point 31° · NW 8 mph · high 37°
City of Sault Ste. Marie River Interstate 2 miles
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The Sault Ste. Marie plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Sault Ste. Marie

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 6:00 PM EST
RIGHT NOW Sault Ste. Marie (KANJ) · 6:55 PM
Clear
38° Clear Feels like 32° · high of 37° near 7 PM
WindNW 8 mphno gusts
Humidity76%rising to 92% by morning
Pressure30.17 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 31° · Dry39° by Tuesday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Thursday50% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 120.05 in · 2 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Chippewa County
NWS Gaylord and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 7:19 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 7:37 AM5:06 PM ↓
9 h 28 m of daylight, 3 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 27% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
2
GOODAir quality index · fine particles
Tomorrow: None, good. No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
TEMPERATURE °F
37°
30°
41°
30°
48°
39°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
7
5
2
0
0
0
6
5
0
0
0
0
1
5
10
10
8
7
8
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7
8
9
9
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 28 to 39° More humid: 39° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 42° / 29°
SAT Nov. 14 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
37° 30°
0% rain — N 6 A
SUN Nov. 15 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
43° 30°
0% rain — WNW 3 A
MON Nov. 16 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
50° 39°
0% rain — SW 6 A
TUE Nov. 17 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
52° 42°
0% rain — SW 8 A
WED Nov. 18 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
53° 44°
0% rain — S 8 A
THU Nov. 19 Chance of showers Chance of showers
53° 42°
50% rain up to 0.1″ W 8 B
FRI Nov. 20 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
49° 41°
30% rain — SE 5 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Sault Ste. Marie about 5,000 feet above the ground was over Canada three days ago, and over the Canadian Prairies a day ago, about 2,200 miles back along its path. It came down from about 9,700 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. It has stayed over land, which is why it feels dry. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK IN 1953 Nov. 17, 1953

The hottest this week has been

66° on Nov. 17, 1953, the hottest reading for this week of the year since 1888. Next is 64° in 2012.

64°
66°
20121953
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Sault Ste Marie Area threaded record since 1888.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What Sault Ste. Marie stands on

Sault Ste. Marie’s center stands about 720 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 570 ft to 770 ft, a difference of 200 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Mission Hill, about 1,050 ft, 15 miles west.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Jacobsville Sandstone, from the Mesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old.

The section below crosses 5 rock units mapped at the surface.

Sault Ste. Marie, cut in half from south to north

A section south to north, 24 miles through the town center
750 ft1,000 ft1,250 ft SAULT STE. MARIE720 ftSaint Marys Riverabout 590 ftHigh point of the line1,350 ft ← S · BruceN →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 25×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Jacobsville Sandstone

Sandstone. Age: Mesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old. About 5 mi of the line.

Munising Formation

Sandstone. Age: Cambrian, 487 to 497 million years old. About 3 mi of the line.

Prairie du Chien Group

Dolostone. Age: Early Ordovician, 471 to 487 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.

Black River Limestone

Limestone. Age: Late Ordovician, 445 to 459 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.

Trenton Limestone

Limestone, dolostone. Age: Late Ordovician, 445 to 459 million years old. About 0.9 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

Sault Ste. Marie’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1888 · Sault Ste Marie Sanderson Field

Sault Ste. Marie has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 77° in July; winter nights fall to about 8° in January. A normal year brings about 120 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 34 inches of water.

24°8°27°9°35°18°49°30°63°41°72°50°77°55°76°55°68°49°54°39°41°28°31°17° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY 34.5 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average77° / 55°high / low, the warmest month
January, average24° / 8°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow34.5 inwettest months: October and September
Snow a year120.1 insnowiest: December
Hottest on record98°FAugust 6, 1947
Coldest on record−37°FFebruary 8, 1934
Wettest day on record5.27 inSeptember 4, 1916
Snowiest day on record26.6 inDecember 10, 1995
90° days a year1on average, 1991–2020
Nights at or below 32°164and 83 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continentalKöppen Dfb

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Oct. 8, to the last in spring, about May 17 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingDec. 10 to March 7; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingNov. 4 to April 21; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchSeptember through November: 11.8 of the year’s 34.5 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Sault Ste. Marie normally reaches 42° and falls to 29°. The record high is 60°, in 1909; the record low −1°, in 1933. The most rain on this date, 1.34 in, fell in 1957.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high24°27°35°49°63°72°77°76°68°54°41°31°
Normal low8°9°18°30°41°50°55°55°49°39°28°17°
Rain and melt, in2.211.511.812.632.642.853.073.193.934.383.442.80
Snow, inches30.320.713.07.60.40.00.00.00.01.716.030.4
Record high54° (1932)51° (2024)83° (2012)85° (1990)91° (1919)93° (1983)98° (1921)98° (1947)95° (1976)83° (2023)75° (2020)62° (2001)
Record low−36° (1982)−37° (1934)−28° (1948)−13° (1923)18° (1966)26° (1982)36° (1992)29° (1982)25° (1993)15° (1925)−12° (1929)−31° (1993)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1888 from the Sault Ste Marie Area threaded record (Sault Ste Marie Sanderson Field, here). NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Sault Ste. Marie on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

FORECASTCITY
Map of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Explore the plate
MICHIGAN · CHIPPEWA

Sault Ste. Marie

13,288 people, 720 ft above sea level in Chippewa County.

720 ftElevation
13,288People
15 sq miLand
Clear 38°
ClearDew point 31°
1

Today in Sault Ste. Marie

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now partly cloudy night 37° 1%
10p partly cloudy night 35° 1%
1a mostly cloudy night 32° 1%
4a mostly cloudy night 31° 1%
7a mostly cloudy night 30° 1%
10a mostly cloudy day 35° 2%
Rain
NEXT RAINThursday · 50%
→
Sat0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
30
37
A
Sun0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
30
43
A
Mon0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
39
50
A
Tue0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
42
52
A
Wed0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
44
53
A
Thu50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
42
53
B
Fri30%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
41
49
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 1953 · NOV. 17, 1953

66°, the hottest this week of the year has been since 1888.

2

What Sault Ste. Marie stands on

Sault Ste. Marie’s center stands about 720 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 570 ft to 770 ft, a difference of 200 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Mission Hill, about 1,050 ft, 15 miles west.

Sault Ste. Marie, south to north Sault Ste. Marie720 ftSaint Marys Riverabout 590 ft ← SN → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 49×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center720 ft
Within 3 miles570 to 770 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (200 ft of relief)
High point nearbyMission Hill, 1,050 ft, 15 mi west
Rock at the surfaceJacobsville Sandstone
Its ageMesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old
5

Sault Ste. Marie’s year

Sault Ste. Marie has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 77° in July; winter nights fall to about 8° in January. A normal year brings about 120 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 34 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 34.5 in
July, average77° / 55° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average24° / 8° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow34.5 in · wettest months: October and September
Snow a year120.1 in · snowiest: December
Hottest on record98°F · August 6, 1947
Coldest on record−37°F · February 8, 1934
Wettest day on record5.27 in · September 4, 1916
Snowiest day on record26.6 in · December 10, 1995
90° days a year1 · on average, 1991–2020
Nights at or below 32°164 · and 83 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continental · Köppen Dfb
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Oct. 8, to the last in spring, about May 17 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Dec. 10 to March 7; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Nov. 4 to April 21; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · September through November: 11.8 of the year’s 34.5 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Sault Ste. Marie normally reaches 42° and falls to 29°. The record high is 60°, in 1909; the record low −1°, in 1933. The most rain on this date, 1.34 in, fell in 1957.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1888 from the Sault Ste Marie Area threaded record (Sault Ste Marie Sanderson Field, here). NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.