The smoke from Canadian wildfires will move in once again. The plume was birthed from nearly 400 fires sparked in Canada’s province of British Columbia in the past week, roughly half of which were started by 51,000 lightning strikes from thunderstorms, the BC Wildfire Service said. Some of those thunderstorms were “dry” or produced inconsequential amounts of rain to help squelch any fires, a dangerous prospect in a province experiencing the worst level of drought. This will give our area filtered sunshine today with temperatures near 80°. A cold front passing through this evening could trigger rain and a thunderstorm.
An Air Quality Alert is in effect statewide for Sunday, July 16th, 2023 due to Canadian wildfire smoke. People with vulnerable lungs should limit prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.
U.S.A and Global Events for July 16th:
1979: The most damaging tornado in Wyoming history touched down 3 miles west-northwest of the Cheyenne airport. This strong tornado moved east or east-southeast across the northern part of Cheyenne, causing $22 million in damage and one fatality. 140 houses and 17 trailers were destroyed. 325 other homes were damaged. Four C-130 aircraft and National Guard equipment sustained $12 million in damage. Municipal hangars and buildings suffered $10 million in losses.
2009: A hailstone, 3.3 inches in diameter, 6.8 inches in circumference, and weighing 2.1 ounces fell in Westford, Vermont. This hailstone is the largest ever found in Vermont. Click HERE for more information.
Grand Rapids Forecast
7 16 grrLansing Forecast
7 16 lanForecast Discussion
.SHORT TERM...(Today through Monday) Issued at 251 AM EDT Sun Jul 16 2023 - Scattered RW/TRW this evening Mid level wave tracks in this evening. Forecast soundings show some instability around and deep layer shear will be on the increase. Thus a few storms are possible with gusty winds the main risk. Overall though the instability is projected to decrease through the night which should limit the organization potential. Any showers/storms should be decreasing in coverage/intensity as they track through. - Smoke around the area today The near surface smoke forecast from the HRRR shows values climbing this morning from west to east through the CWA. Thus the air quality will diminish during this time. We could see the near surface smoke decrease this afternoon but another surge of smoke is projected to arrive tonight. .LONG TERM...(Monday night through Saturday) Issued at 251 AM EDT Sun Jul 16 2023 We are looking at a continuation of the recent upper air pattern in the long term portion of the forecast. This means that generally speaking, we will continue to average out a little cooler than average, with occasional chances for rain. The challenge is to find the periods where the rain chances are more concentrated, and to identify the temperature trends. It looks like the first couple of days in the long term for Tuesday and Wednesday, the trend for shower/storm chances will be on the lower side. The upper low, and extension of the southern flank of it down this way is expected to be pushed east during this time frame. We will be under more of an influence of short wave ridging aloft and weak ridging at the surface. Also, the flow aloft being from the NW will bring drier air over the area. The NBM does have some low pops for southern areas Tuesday-Wednesday with a wave of low pressure. It seems that the Canadian is having some influence on this, with most of the other members keeping the low well South, and most of the rain with it. The best chance of rain at this point in the long term looks to come around the Thursday/Thursday night period. We will see another upper trough/low settle in over the Upper Midwest and Upper Great Lakes. As this moves in, it will bring a fairly decent cold front with it. Now while the forcing and dynamics look good, there does not look to be a great moisture feed out ahead of it. This far out, chance pops cover it well enough with some adjustments expected as we get closer to the event. Once the front moves through by Friday morning, any better moisture will be swept out of the area. We will get back to being under the influence of troughing aloft. We will be at the mercy of short waves riding through the flow and moving through the region. Rain chances will likely be best in the afternoon and evening hours with diurnal instability. They do not look to be high at this time.
I am visiting Frankfort today. Everything is still dead and crunchy. I guess they haven’t got that much rain.
Just got back from traverse city. Yesterday there was a thick layer of smoke and it appeared “cloudy” most of the day. Although it was quite warm and humid. It sure is beautiful up north this time of year!
Get ready for a string of below normal temp days and we are heading towards another below normal temp month! Wow, just wow, WOW!
The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 81/66 there was 0.58” of rain fall the day had 42% of possible sunshine. When the sun was out there was a lot of smoke in the sky once again giving the sky a white look. There were 9 CDD’s the peak wind was 27 MPH out of the W. For today the average H/L is 83/63 the record high of 97 was set in 1894 and 2012 the record low of 42 was set in 1945. The coldest maximum for today is 71 set in 2014 the warmest minimum is 76… Read more »