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Christmas 2023 – The Michigan Weather Center
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Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas!!! The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 51/43 there was no rain/snow. For December Grand Rapids has a total of just 1.3” of snowfall that is -14.2” below average for this date. For the season so far just 3.2” has fallen and that is now -19.7 below average.  Yesterdays low of 43 at Grand Rapids and Lansing the 45 at Holland and the 46 at Muskegon were all the 2nd warmest minimums for December 24th For today the average H/L at Grand Rapids is 34/23 the record high of 65 was set in 1982 and the record low of -3 was set in 1983 the wettest was 1.01” in thunderstorms in 1982. The most snow fall of 7.0” fell in 2017 the most on the ground was 22” in 1951 Last year the H/L was 19/17 there was 2.7” of snowfall and there was 17” on the ground at Grand Rapids.

This has been a very warm December so far with a mean of 37.6 at Grand Rapids for a departure of +6.4. At Lansing the mean of 37.4 is a departure of +7.0 and at Muskegon the mean there of 40.5 is a departure of +7.9. This December is on track to be one of the warmest and least snowy at Grand Rapids. Lansing is also on track for one of the warmest and at Muskegon they very well could see their warmest of record.

For anyone looking for cold and snow the long range guess by the CFSv2 says not so fast

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/mchen/CFSv2FCST/weekly/

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI  
645 AM EST MON DEC 25 2023  
  
LATEST UPDATE...  
AVIATION  
   
SHORT TERM  
(TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY)  
ISSUED AT 300 AM EST MON DEC 25 2023  
  
- DRY AND MILD WEATHER FOR MOST OF THE DAY TODAY -   
  
TRENDS IN HIGH RES SHORT RANGE GUIDANCE AND THE HREF SUGGEST THE  
MORNING AND MOST OF THE AFTERNOON WILL BE DRY TODAY. A FEW SHOWERS  
MAY MOVE IN FROM THE SOUTH BY LATE AFTERNOON BUT GUIDANCE TRENDS  
THE PAST 24 HRS ARE 3-6 HOURS SLOWER WITH PCPN ARRIVAL. THEREFORE  
WE DO NOT EXPECT RAIN SHOWERS TO DEVELOP ACROSS MOST OF OUR AREA  
UNTIL THIS EVENING.   
  
IT WILL REMAIN UNSEASONABLY MILD TODAY WITH HIGH TEMPS REACHING  
THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 50'S. SOME PATCHY EARLY MORNING LIGHT FOG IS   
NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME DENSE OR WIDESPREAD GIVEN SOME BOUNDARY   
LAYER MIXING WHICH WILL CONTINUE. THIS WAS ABSENT YESTERDAY   
MORNING WHEN FOG WAS DENSE AND WIDESPREAD.   
  
- UNSEASONABLY MILD WEATHER CONTINUES TUESDAY -  
  
IT WILL BE QUITE MILD FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AGAIN ON TUESDAY GIVEN  
SOUTHERLY FLOW WAA AND COMING OFF VERY MILD MIN TEMPS IN THE 40'S  
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. SOME PATCHY FOG IS EXPECTED EARLY TUESDAY  
MORNING DUE TO ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM SHOWERS OVERNIGHT  
FOLLOWED BY DIMINISHING BOUNDARY LAYER WIND SPEEDS TOWARD DAYBREAK  
TUESDAY.   
   
LONG TERM  
(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)  
ISSUED AT 300 AM EST MON DEC 25 2023  
  
- GRADUALLY TRENDING COLDER TOWARDS THE WEEKEND -  
  
LATEST GUIDANCE SHOWS A LESS ABRUPT TRANSITION TO COLDER   
TEMPERATURES THE LATTER HALF OF THIS WEEK. IN COORDINATION WITH   
SURROUNDING OFFICES, HAVE CONTINUED ELEVATED POPS FROM THURSDAY INTO   
THURSDAY EVENING GIVEN THAT TROWAL-INDUCED FORCING FOR PRECIPITATION   
MAY BE SLOWER TO PIVOT OUT OF THE AREA. IMPACTS WITH THIS UPTICK IN   
PRECIPITATION CHANCES SHOULD BE MINIMAL GIVEN RELATIVELY WARM   
TEMPERATURES AND A TRANSITION FROM RAIN TO SNOW WHOSE TIMING WILL   
LIKELY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TAIL END OF THE PRECIPITATION EVENT.   
  
- LESS FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW THIS WEEKEND -  
  
WHAT LIMITED SNOW CHANCES EXIST NOW SEEM SHIFTED TOWARDS THE   
SUNDAY/MONDAY TIMEFRAME, THIS IS ALSO WHEN ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE BEGINS   
TO REVEAL MORE THAN ONE PLAUSIBLE SOLUTION. INTERESTINGLY, THIS IS   
SEEN NOT SO MUCH IN THE CLUSTER ANALYSES AS IT IS IN THE CANADIAN   
ENSEMBLE, WHOSE MEMBERS ARE LEANING MORE TOWARDS A QUICK HITTING   
COLD SURGE THAT COULD RESULT IN LAKE EFFECT SNOW, MAINLY OVER FAR   
SOUTHWEST LOWER MI IN THE EARLY MONDAY TIMEFRAME.  
  
HOWEVER, I MUST EMPHASIZE THAT THE OVERALL PATTERN FORECAST FOR THIS   
WEEKEND IS FAR FROM NAILED DOWN; HENCE, ANY ATTEMPT TO DIAGNOSE   
DETAILS AT THIS POINT REQUIRES A HEALTHY DOSE OF SKEPTICISM.  

Detailed Forecast For Grand Rapids

Christmas Day
Rain likely, mainly after 4pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. East wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tonight
Rain. Low around 49. East wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tuesday
Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 49. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tuesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. West wind around 6 mph.
Wednesday
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Light northwest wind becoming north northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33.
Thursday
Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday Night
A chance of showers before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 39.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with a high near 40.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.
newest oldest
Sandy (Hudsonville)
Sandy (Hudsonville)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! I hope you all had a beautiful day. We couldn’t ask for nicer weather. I remember last Christmas and how deep the snow was on our porch. 🎄

Mark (East Lansing)
Mark (East Lansing)

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you all did too. We opened the back patio door this afternoon to get some fresh air in while we were cooking. The sun came out and the breeze was nice. It looks like most of us were +20 degrees or even higher in some areas. That’s just unbelievable.

Andy W
Andy W

Weather was absolutely magnificent today!! What a beautiful Christmas!! Keep these warm temps ROCKIN!!

Barry in Zeeland
Barry in Zeeland

Just played several games of pickleball with the kids, unbelievably perfect outdoor weather for Christmas! If the rain holds off we’re having a fire later, more like an early Fall day today.

Rocky (Rockford)
Rocky (Rockford)

This has to be some of the worst Christmas weather ever! No snow and too warm! Horrendous!! At least we can expect better winter weather in January and February!! Bring it on m

Mark (East Lansing)
Mark (East Lansing)

I feel for you, I really do. I hope you get some snow and cold this season.

Andy W
Andy W

You should not feel bad for him after posts like this in May….KARMA coming back around!

Rocky (Rockford)
The cool pattern continues to rock! Lows in the 30’s this week and some days it won’t even hit 70 degrees! Incredible!

May 22, 2023 7:25 am

Rocky (Rockford)
Rocky (Rockford)

Rock on Mark! We will see plenty of snow this season! It could be wild!

Andy W
Andy W

Merry Christmas! What a gorgeous day! Was just out in my very green yard with a Tshirt on and I was comfortable!

Kyle (Portland, Ionia County)
Kyle (Portland, Ionia County)

Merry Christmas to you all!

bernie
bernie

Merry Christmas to all of Yule (bad pun but couldn’t resist)!

*SS*
*SS*

Love it!!

Barry in Zeeland
Barry in Zeeland

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy one of the warmest ones we’ve ever had!