Yesterday, we saw lots of sunshine, and the temperature reached 37°. The morning low was 16°. Today, we will see mostly cloudy skies, and the temperature will be cooler than yesterday, holding in the 20s. Temperatures this week will trend a bit milder than last week, mainly in the 30s. At this point, little snowfall is predicted this week, mainly under 50% chances.
Last Weeks Snowfall
Weather History
1967: Temperatures in the 20s are some 40 degrees colder than the day before, and heavy snow begins falling, piling up a foot or more along with increasing winds.
1978: A storm known as the Cleveland Superbomb moves north from the Gulf of Mexico and deepens explosively, becoming one of the worst blizzards in Midwest history. From one to two feet of snow falls across southern Lower Michigan, whipped into huge drifts by strong gusty winds. Several new records were set including a new record low sea level barometric pressure of 28.68, observed at 6:00 AM. At least 9 deaths were attributed to the blizzard, most roads were impassable, roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow, and the airport in Grand Rapids was closed from late on the 25th until the 27th. Governor Milliken declared a state of emergency and requested additional federal aid for snow removal.
We moved around on snowmobiles that week as all the roads were closed.
I saw a lot of snow when I lived in Maine in the early ’70s and traveled to Quebec that same winter, nothing ever shut down out there even when several feet fell in the mountains because they had a smaller road system and used blowers instead of plows on the highways.
On January 26, 2021, a low-pressure system brought widespread snow to the region, with 3 to 5 inches observed north of I-69. Much of this occurred during the morning commute, with visibilities dropping to around a quarter mile and snow quickly accumulating on the roads.
On January 26, 1978, a blizzard hit southeast Michigan. This caused the lowest all-time pressure to be recorded in Detroit: 28.34 inches!
Forecast Discussion
- Light snow and blowing snow Monday and Wednesday; breezy There continues to be a decent signal for breezy conditions tonight and Monday as a series of short waves drop south across northern Lower and tighten the pressure gradient. We don`t expect much in the way of snowfall with this cold front as the main area of energy aloft remains in Canada. Confidence is high that we`ll see gusty winds develop tonight into Monday. ECMWF ensemble mean shows wind gusts to 40 mph. This is corroborated by high EFI values across the northern half of the cwa. The end result is that we`re likely to see some blowing and drifting snow both from the 1 inch or so that will fall ahead of the front as well as from the snowpack on the ground. Overall, snow accumulations will be rather light...less than an inch, except north of M-46 where accums will be around an inch. Another clipper will bring the chance of light snow again Wednesday. Given the track of the clipper across the Straits, snow accums over the cwa will be light; much of it generated by the short wave aloft. - Chance of freezing rain and snow late week Yet another system late in the week is showing signs of producing some freeing rain Friday night and Saturday. Our best chances for freezing rain occur when a southern stream system draws moisture northward toward the Great Lakes, where it encounters cold air near the surface feeding in on northeast winds from Canada. GFS and ECMWF are showing that scenario and forecast soundings would support some freezing rain. We`ll continue to monitor this system and see how the models resolve it.
After a brief warm up, all signs point towards a SNOWY February! Get ready for another wild month! Who would have thought?
…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 8 PM EST MONDAY… * WHAT…Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE…Portions of central, south central, southwest, and west central Michigan. * WHEN…From 10 AM to 8 PM EST Monday. * IMPACTS…Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Snow moving in from the north during the afternoon and evening combined with the strong winds will result in blowing and drifting snow. Accumulations are expected to be light, but visibilities… Read more »
Last weeks snow totals are incredible! What a week of winter weather! Nothing better!
THE GRAND RAPIDS CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 26, 2025 The H/L was 35/13 there was a trace of snowfall the day started with a snow depth of 5” the highest wind gust was 39 MPH out of the W. The sun was out 60% of the possible time. For today the average H/L is 31/13 we have now past our lowest average high. The record high of 62 was in 1944 the coldest high of 5 was in 1924 the record low of -9 was in 1927 the warmest low of 46 was in 1916 the wettest was 1.09” that… Read more »