We have a heavy frost this morning. My wife and I covered the flowers and lilac bushes last night. Our lilacs were blooming already as are several flower species which bloom in May. Our dogwood and crabapple trees are also flowering so I suspect there will be some damage there also. The temperature at 6 am is at 29°.
TreeFruitCriticalTemperaturesNWS Forecast
Mostly clear skies are expected through Friday morning. Highs today in the 50s will fall back into the 30s tonight. Look for areas of frost once again tonight. Rain spreads in Friday evening.
Weather History
1976: Winter returns after summer-like weather the week before. After four days in the 80s from the 15th to the 18th, temperatures are held in the 30s today and heavy wet snow falls. Lansing sets a record for the date with 4 inches of snow, as does Grand Rapids with 3 inches.
On April 25, 2009, A strong cold front pushed into Southeast Michigan during the afternoon hours, producing several severe thunderstorms, generally confined to the M-59 Corridor, where tree damage and power outages were most prominent. Over 50 severe reports were recorded with most of those being wind damage and severe wind gusts as high as 70 m.p.h. There were 80,000 homes and businesses that lost power in Oakland County.
Also on April 25, 1990, the temperature rose to 87 degrees in Flint. This set the record for the high temperature in the month of April in Flint and was tied by the records set on April 16, 2002, and April 18, 2004.
1875: New York City received three inches of snow, the latest measurable snowfall on record for that location.
1880: A violent tornado, at times up to 400 yards wide, swept away at least 20 homes in Macon, Mississippi. Pieces of houses were found 15 miles away. 22 people died, and 72 were injured. Loaded freight cars were thrown 100 yards into homes. Clothes were carried for eight miles.
1910: Chicago, Illinois was blanketed with 2.5 inches of snow, and a total of 6.5 inches between the 22nd and the 26th. It was the latest significant snow on record for the city. Atlanta, Georgia also received late-season snowfall when 1.5 inches fell. Their 32-degree low is the latest freeze on record.
1912: An estimated F4 tornado struck Ponca City, Oklahoma. One person was killed, and 119 homes were damaged or destroyed. Dozens of oil derricks were flattened or twisted, southwest of town. The tornado was reportedly visible and audible for 20 miles.
1990: Thunderstorms produced severe weather from Texas to Nebraska. Thunderstorms spawned fifteen tornadoes, including a powerful F4 tornado near Weatherford, Texas. Between 3 PM and 8 PM, a storm complex tracking northeastward across central Kansas spawned four tornadoes along a 119-mile path from Ness to Smith Center, with the last tornado on the ground for 55 miles. Del Rio TX was hit with hail two inches in diameter and wind gusts to 112 mph. Brown County and Commanche County in Texas were deluged with up to 18 inches of rain, and flooding caused more than 65 million dollars in damage.
Forecast Discussion
- Cold Temperatures continue into Friday Freeze warning continues this morning. Temperatures have dropped to around freezing already with dewpoints in the mid to upper 20s. Expect as winds calm towards sunrise, Minimum temperatures will drop. The upper level ridge will settle over the region this morning with dry air overhead. Expect sunny skies through Thursday into Friday. With mostly clear skies another round of freezing temperatures will be possible tonight into Friday morning. While there is less of a signal Temperatures could drop to around 30 east of US 131. However, there are several caveats. One is that easterly winds could bring moist flow that could bring dewpoints to at to above freezing. Also, any winds could preclude any frost/freeze. Day shift will have to make final determination but it remains possible. Skies will overspread the region Friday morning with Temperatures rebounding daytime Friday into the mid to upper 60s. - Periods of Showers and Thunderstorms Friday Night through Monday Periods of showers and storms are expected beginning Friday night and lasting into Monday. A deep and persistent southwest flow will be in place across the Great Lakes. This regime will supply deep moisture to the region with a source off the Gulf of Mexico. A blocking area of high pressure off the middle Atlantic and Southeast U.S. coast will keep the moisture feed in place for our region. Surface dew points will push into the 60s and precipitable water values will be between 1.00 and 1.50 inches. Rainfall amounts over multiple days will begin to add up. Totals by Tuesday morning will likely range from around 1.50 inches towards Ludington to 0.50 towards Jackson. An oscillating boundary will be near our area much of the time initially moving in as a warm front Friday night. We will be positioned in the warm sector on Saturday. The boundary stalls near Central Michigan Saturday night before moving north again on Sunday. A cold front will finally move through Monday evening. Best chances for storms will likely occur on Saturday when 1000 to 2000 j/kg of MUCAPE is forecast. Sunday is another time frame that will need to be watched as MUCAPE values again exceed 1000 j/kg with the warm front surging north. There are not many forecast periods that are dry once we get to Friday night...April showers. - Well Above Normal Temperatures This Weekend into Next Week 850mb temperatures are in the teens C for the most part from Friday night through Tuesday. These are essentially summer time values and the resultant surface temperatures are warm as well. ECMWF and GFS MOS guidance show highs in the 70s each day from Saturday through Tuesday. For reference today`s high in Grand Rapids is 62. We will be well into the 70s Saturday through Tuesday, so we will at least be 10-20 degrees above normal.
Crazy temp swings this time of year. Four consecutive days in the 70s last week, two freeze warnings this week, and now 80 is on the board for Sunday.
7 out of the last 8 days with below normal temps! Wow, just wow, WOW, woweee!
What? We are in another freeze warning! What a cold, cold, cold week! Incredible pattern!
Just another below normal temp Spring day! 6 out of the last 7 days have been below normal! Wow, what a cold April stretch of weather!
If you think this is cold, I wonder what you think when you realize April will finish as another very mild month LOL
Well definitely looks like the “hard freeze” panned out. I’m sure fruit crops were damaged… hopefully not too extensive. At least it looks like we are in the clear from here on out (after tonight). No freezes the next 2 weeks and that takes us to mid-May
Look at that long-range forecast: all 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s!
It’s actually been a great April for growing! Lots of sun and warmth and some good rain too. And we experienced one of the highest minimum temps for the month in a long time.
Too funny!
I see yesterday was yet another below normal temp day and more of the same today! Wow, what a cold week!
My yard hit 25F. Lilacs stems are already folded over. My 30+ fruit trees are likely all going to be fruitless this year. I tried to save my best 2 peach trees with a burn barrel all night, they are too big to cover. This early flowering is exactly why I don’t like mild winters, we are more likely to get hard damaging freezes the earlier trees try to bud out.
Yes mild winters are brutal! Hopefully we have a hard winter this coming winter! Bring it!
It would be nice to have a seasonable (snow and temps) winter again.
Good morning Jessie, mild winters really have nothing to do with harming your fruit trees because all winter they are dormant and really, with you being in very early stages of flower development on your fruit trees you should be fine. Here’s a chart of what stage the fruit trees flowering are in and the numbers indicate what temps you would have to see to kill the fruiting flower. With Peaches you probably have not even reached first bloom yet, so it would have had to get down to 21 degrees or lower to kill the fruiting flower. So there… Read more »
Peach trees and all my fruit trees (except apples) are in full bloom. They bud out and flower as soil temp rises. So a mild winter, particularly a warm spring, absolutely speeds up flower development. Last night it hit 25F, which is at the 90% kill temp for most fruit crops, even apples at first pink (which mine are at right now). Usually my fruit trees aren’t even beginning to flower until the first week of may or later.
Gotcha, well hopefully they pull through. A lot of times those fruit trees are more hearty than we think! You’ll need to keep us posted on how they do throughout the growing season.
That’s my hope! A few degrees makes all the difference. A 50% kill would be okay, I already thin more than that every year.
Too funny!
Andy does not have a clue about farming and fruit trees! I appreciate your real World facts!
Literally pulled info from the PSU agriculture site. Think they know a little more than you?
You are clueless!
Just more baseless insults and slandering!
The overnight low here in MBY was 28 and at the current time with clear skies it is 32. It looks like the official low so far is 29 and that will be the coldest low for this April. That would be the warmest minimum for any April since 2010 and the 5th warmest minimum for any April at Grand Rapids.
Slim
The official H/L yesterday was 52/35 there was no rainfall the sun was out 91% of the time. The highest wind gust was 26 MPH out of the NW. For today the average H/L is 62/41 the record high of 86 was set in 1915 and the record low of 22 was set in 1967 the record rainfall amount of 1.40” was in 2009. The most snowfall of 3.0” fell in 1976. Last year the H/L was 48/32.
Slim