Mid way point
Today we are at the midway point of meteorological summer. Wasn’t it just yesterday we were looking for the first warm day of spring and now we are half way thru summer. On this mid meteorological summer day the average 30 year H/L at Grand Rapids is 83/63 at Muskegon it is 82/62 at Holland it is 83/62 and at Lansing 83/61. The new 15 year average the average is 84/64 at Grand Rapids, 82/63 at Muskegon, 83/62 at Holland and 84/62 at Lansing.
For the month of June I noticed in the NWS preliminary climate for June had a lot more partly cloudy days at Grand Rapids vs Lansing, Holland and Kalamazoo. Here is a copy of the email that I sent to the GR NWS and their reply. There is some good information as to the definition for a “clear” day and a “partly cloudy” day.
My email
“Dear madam or sir.
I write on a local weather blog and we have noticed that the Preliminary number of days of clear, partly cloudy and cloudy at Grand Rapids has been reported as 9 clear, 19 partly cloudy and 2 cloudy. While Holland to our SW has reported 20 clear and 9 partly cloudy and 1 cloudy. And Kalamazoo to our south has reported 19 clear 11 partly cloudy and 0 cloudy. And Lansing to the east reported 19 clear 10 partly cloudy and 1 cloudy.
My question is was there really that many more partly cloudy days at Grand Rapids vs Holland, Kalamazoo and Lansing?
Thanks
James
616”
The reply that I got back.
“Hi James,
Sorry for the delay, and good question. In the preliminary climate data, “partly cloudy” is defined as cloud cover that extends from 40% to 70% across the sky directly overhead the Automated Surface Observing System’s ceilometer, which measures the height and extent of cloud cover. It is measured at a single point, which is the airport it is sited on. “Clear” is a slight misnomer because that could mean just under 40% cloud cover, and the Monthly Climate Report lists it as “Fair” for the same category (less than 40% cloud cover). When you consider that 30% cloud cover is in a different category than 40% cloud cover, the disparity in “Partly Cloudy” values between Grand Rapids and the other sites is not as big as it seems to be. I would imagine the majority of people looking at the sky could not tell the difference in 30% cloud cover vs. 40%, for example. This probably explains much of what you are seeing; the other part of it could simply be the randomness of where clouds are in association with the location of showers and thunderstorms.
Brandon Hoving
Observing Program Leader
Meteorologist
National Weather Service
Grand Rapids, MI”
So as you see there can be just less than 40% of cloud cover and it is still considered “clear” And this response was much better than the one I received for the reported trace of snow fall on July 4, 1990.
Slim
We got 0.55” of rain at my house yesterday. Was a nice dumping of rain. The windshield wipers on my moms car stopped working when she was driving home in the pouring rain so I had to take over driving her car back home for her.
We managed .16 of an inch yesterday, not much but added to our total of 3.30 inches for the month thus far and 5.92 for the met summer.
It would be nice to own a ceilometer, however, the cost starts at $30000 upward to $100000, a bit prohibitive for our Weather Center.
There are long range hints that the next 30 days or so will be warmer and drier than average.
Slim
Soon it will be August then September then October woo woo the best times of the year is almost here Fall that is!! INDY
Remember as winters around here are reported as being “short” And all 4 seasons are about 90 days long then. That means all seasons are short. LOL
Slim
Do they take the cloud cover measurement once during the day, several times throughout the day, or is it an average of the entire day? Just me thinking aloud.
Good Question. In the hourly observations there is a log kept for sky conditions. In the weather log there is a report for the conditions and in that section is stated clear, partly cloudy, cloudy, rain, fog ect. So my guess is that it is recorded hourly.
Slim
Thanks Slim! Interesting reply. We missed most of the rain again yesterday receiving only 0.02”. Every batch of rain that moves towards us always seems to split in half as it goes over us. This Summer is the most I’ve had to run sprinklers in many years.
We are now at the half way point of July 2022 and so for in the state of Michigan as a whole most locations have temperatures that are below average. In fact of all the major reporting stations in Michigan only 2 are above average. Here is a list of the major locations and their mean so far and the departure from average. Grand Rapids 71.5 departure -1.2. Lansing 71.9 departure +0.1. Muskegon 72.4 departure +0.8. Holland 71.4 departure -0.2. Th the east Detroit 73.1 departure -0.9. Flint 70.0 departure -0.9. Saginaw 70.1 departure -1.6. So far July has been cool in the north. Alpena 64.4 departure -3.3. Houghton Lake 65.6 departure -2.0. Sault Ste Marie 62.4 departure -3.0. Marquette 63.1 departure -1.9 and Houghton 62.0 departure of -2.5. So far it has been a cool July in Norther Michigan and the UP
Slim
Yesterday the official H/L at Grand Rapids was 76/58 officially there was just 0.05” of rain fall. Here in MBY I had a little more with a total of 0.13” of rain fall. There was just 15% of possible sunshine yesterday. The overnight low and current temperature here at my house was 65. For today the record high at Grand Rapids is 97 set in 1894 and 2012. The record low of 42 was set in 1945. The weather for next several days continue to look typical for mid-summer. And there is a chance of some showers. So far the thunderstorm drought continues here in west Michigan.
Slim