Grand Rapids Climate overviews
We all know how we perceive the day to day weather is different for each individual and here is some information on some old studies that were done and one was done right here in Grand Rapids
Way back in the day few people had thermometers and as such weather descriptions were sometimes written without temperatures. Not sure of the years but might have been in the late 1890’s or early 1900’s a man named Robert L Janiskee did a study of how the perceived comfort of “average” person at Grand Rapids, Michigan felt in January and July. For January Janiskee used 5 comfort levels 1. Cool 2. Keen 3. Cold 4. Very Cold and 5. Extremely Cold. I had to look up Keen. Keen has a lot of close — and brutal — synonyms, such as caustic, cutting, piercing, and penetrating! For July he had 6 terms 1. Sultry 2. Hot 3. Warm 4. Mild 5. Cool and 6. Keen. Here are the results of Mr Janiskee study at Grand Rapids. Each “comfort” level was given the percent days and night of how the “average” person would perceive how it felt.
January days 1. Cool 0.5% 2. Keen 18.5% 3. Cold 66.9% 4. Very Cold 13.7% and 5. Extremely Cold 0.3%. January nights 1. Cool 0.2% 2. Keen 13.4% 3. Cold 63.7% 4. Very Cold 21.0% and 5. Extremely Cold 1.8%.
For July days.1. Sultry 5.2% 2. Hot 5.2% 3. Warm 31.0% 4. Mild 42.1% 5. Cool 8.4% and 6. Keen 8.2% July nights 1. Sultry 0.5% 2. Warm 8.9% 3. Mild 38.2% 4. Cool 21.5% and 5. Keen 30.9%
The bottom line was the in January the general feeling was that it was warm to mild for most of the time during the day and mild to keen during the night. and in January it was cold most of the time during the day and night most of the time but extremes of hot or cold were rare
Now we will jump it 1960 and this is a article on the climate for Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, is located in the west-central part of Kent County, in the picturesque Grand River valley about 30 air miles east of Lake Michigan. The Grand River, the longest stream in Michigan, flows through the city and bisects it into east and west sections. High hills rise on either side of the valley. Elevations range from 602 feet on the valley floor to 1,020 feet in the extreme southern part of Kent County, southwest of the airport. Grand Rapids is under the natural climatic influence of Lake Michigan. In spring the cooling effect of Lake Michigan helps retard the growth of vegetation until the danger of frost has passed. The warming effect in the fall retards frost until most of the crops have matured. Fall is a colorful time of year in western Michigan, compensating for the late spring. During the winter, excessive cloudiness and numerous snow flurries occur with strong westerly winds. The tempering effect of Lake Michigan on cold waves coming in from the west and northwest is quite evident. The tempering effect of the lake promotes the growth of a great variety of fruit trees and berries, especially apples, peaches, cherries, and blueberries. The intense cold of winter is modified, thus reducing winter kill of fruit trees. Summer days are pleasantly warm and most summer nights are quite comfortable, although there are about three weeks of hot, humid weather during most summers. Prolonged severe cold waves with below-zero temperatures are infrequent. The temperature usually rises to above zero during the daytime hours regardless of early morning readings.
July is the sunniest month and December is the month with the least sunshine. November through January is usually a period of excessive cloudiness and minimal sunshine. Precipitation is usually ample for the growth and development of all vegetation. About one-half of the annual precipitation falls during the growing season, May through September. Droughts occur occasionally, but are seldom of protracted length. The snowfall season extends from mid-November to mid-March. Some winters have had continuous snow cover throughout this period, although there is usually a mid-winter thaw. The Grand River flows through the city and reaches critical heights a couple of times each year, generally once in January-February and again in March-April. Overflow is generally limited to the lowlands of the flood plain. November is one of the windiest months and although violent windstorms are infrequent, gusts have on occasion exceeded 65 mph. Summer thunderstorms occasionally produce gusty winds over 60 mph.
When I get a new winter long range guess I will toss it up and this one is from Brett Anderson who writes for Accuweather. This outlook is for Canada and he has a lower level of confidence in it. I will not post the whole guess for all of Canada only Ontario.
Ontario
“Lack of strong forecast signals for this upcoming winter means confidence for this outlook is lower than usual. Based on this, I may decide to update this forecast later in November. A cold winter is likely in store for northwestern Ontario. Farther east, the remainder of the province looks rather stormy, especially during December and January with the potential for several significant snowfall events, including the greater Toronto area and up into the Ottawa Valley. The main storm track may shift farther east by February, which may lead to less snowfall, but an increase in very cold spells of weather and localized lake-effect snowfall. Based on this forecast, skiing and snowmobiling conditions look more favorable for this winter. Overall, the winter should feature near-average daytime highs, while nighttime lows will be above-average due to increased cloud cover. There is the potential for some significant ice or sleet events across interior southern Ontario, especially mid-winter.”
Will give this one to Rocky and to a lesser extent Indy
Slim
U of M has issues. They can not beat a good team! Horrendous!
Great post Slim. 🙂
Big upset. Lowly Illinois beat Wisconsin 24-23.
Blue will have their hands full tonight at Penn State.
Can we ask for a nicer day? Maybe tomorrow. The golf course is PACKED.
Whoops I see I made a mistake on one paragraph. This paragraph The paragraph The bottom line was the in January the general feeling was that it was warm to mild for most of the time during the day and mild to keen during the night. and in January it was cold most of the time during the day and night most of the time but extremes of hot or cold were rare Should have been The bottom line is that in July the general feeling was that is was warm to mild for most of the time during the… Read more »
Best weekend for a color tour is now come Monday we have another storm system moving In with big winds of course more rain this time the leafs will be blowing away untill next Fall!! …The best is yet to come like the Rock said enjoy it well it last … Halloween maybe the coolest ever in Michigan Boo!! Have a super Saturday Go Blue ….INDY!!
Enjoy this weekends weather because we are headed for a continuing below normal temp pattern and a wild winter! Above normal snowfall and below temps = a great winter!
Nice post – looking back at perceptions of pain thresholds before the baby boomers I believe people handled pain differently – they didn’t whine as much, they handled diverse situations with dignity befitting their generation. 🙂