Yesterday was a very pleasant 79° with low humidity, the low was 60°. We currently have 56.5° at 6 am in Otsego. Sunrise is 6:45 and the sun sets at 8:53 pm giving us 14 hours and 7 minutes of daylight today. Skies will be mostly sunny today with highs in the lower 80s in most areas. Humidity values will remain on the low side so ideal conditions will continue for outdoor activities. A weak cold front dropping down from the north today will bring an increase in cloud cover to Central Lower Michigan along with a very small chance for a shower (20%) towards sunset along U.S. 10.
Weather History for SW Michigan
August 7
1900: An eight-day heat wave continues with temperatures in the lower to mid-90s. Adding to the discomfort are warm and muggy nighttime low temperatures that only fall to the mid and upper 70s.
1996: Heavy rains of over 3 inches flooded roads and streams in Lansing and Grand Ledge.
2008: Several waterspouts are observed over Lake Michigan from Grand Haven to South Haven. At least one of them appears to come onshore, but no damage occurs.
August 8
1894: Only four days after record cool weather in the 30s and 40s, the thermometer soars to record highs of 96 at Grand Rapids and 99 at Lansing.
1939: A tornado outbreak across central and southern Lower Michigan resulted in two deaths and about 100 injuries. A violent tornado moved across the southeast part of Kalamazoo, destroying dozens of homes and killing two people. More homes were destroyed and six people were injured in northern Kent County, northeast of Cedar Springs.
1973: A tornado injures five people and damaged eight houses in Carson City, Montcalm County.
1977: A tornado destroys a barn and trailer north of Marion in Osceola County.
August 9
1964: Less than a week after hitting 100 degrees the temperature plummets to a record cold 38 degrees at Lansing and 43 at Grand Rapids. Muskegon went from 99 degrees on the 3rd to a low of 40 degrees this morning.
1994: Cool weather prevails for several days with low humidity and high temperatures only in the 60s. Record cool maximum temperatures are observed at Grand Rapids and Lansing, where the high on this date is only 64 degrees.
2009: A thunderstorm brings damaging downburst winds estimated at 70 to 75 mph to Muskegon County. The storm strikes Hoffmaster State Park and Fruitport, downing dozens of trees and causing some damage to homes. The storms continue into Kent County, hitting Kent City and Sparta. Another severe thunderstorm produces a downburst that blows part of the roof off a school in Jackson.
August 10
1944: The first half of August produces seven days in the 90s, peaking with a record high of 98 degrees at Grand Rapids and 95 at Muskegon on this date.
1971: A tornado damages some cottages near Croton Dam in Newaygo County.
1972: High pressure from Canada brings record low temperatures, including 40 degrees at Lansing, 45 at Grand Rapids, and 47 at Muskegon.
August 11
1864: Lansing hits 101 degrees. This was the all-time high-temperature record for Lansing before being broken by a reading of 102 in 1894.
1941: It was a soggy day as Grand Rapids and Muskegon set daily rainfall records of about an inch and a half.
2004: Cool and cloudy weather was observed with high temperatures only in the 60s. Record low maximum temperatures occur at Grand Rapids with 63 degrees, 64 at Lansing and 61 at Muskegon.
August 12
1864: The temperature hits 96 degrees at Lansing for a record high. The record for the coolest high temperature is set exactly one hundred years later in 1964 when the high is only 62 degrees at Lansing
1979: A summer cool spell sets several record lows over the course of a week. On this date, Muskegon falls to 45 degrees for a record low.
2016: Record rains fall at Grand Rapids with 2.61 inches for the day. A small tornado destroys an outbuilding and takes down a few trees east of Douglas, Michigan.
August 13
2002: Severe weather produces widespread wind damage across southwest Lower Michigan. A tornado struck near Rockford in Kent County, causing minor damage to several homes and vehicles.
Weather History for SE Michigan
August 7
On August 7, 1984, thunderstorms brought winds of 73 mph in the mid-afternoon to Genesee county.
August 8
On August 8, 2001, temperatures soared into the upper 90s. This was the fifth day of a six-day heat wave with temperatures in the 90s. Highs reached 99 degrees in Detroit and Saginaw, and 98 in Flint, all of which are records for the date.
Also on August 8, 1984, three tornadoes were reported around Genesee county at 2:08 pm, 2:15 pm and 2:20 pm. The tornados ranged from F1 through F3 and caused between $25,000 and $2,500,000 in damages.
August 9
On August 9, 2009, numerous roads were flooded and closed. The most significant road damage was M 53 south of Imlay City which was washed out and had to be closed for about 10 days. Over two dozen homes were also damaged due to the flooding. A local state of emergency was declared. Five to eight inches of rain falling within a 30-hour period leads to widespread flooding across southern Lapeer county. A few reported rainfall totals include 7.4 inches in Almont, 6.3 inches in Imlay City, and 5.65 inches in Lapeer.
Also on August 9, 2001, a heat wave from the 5th through the 9th, resulted in temperatures pushing well up into the 90s. On the 6th, the excessive heat caused at least 200 people to seek medical attention. The peak of the heat wave came on the 8th when temperatures reached a record high 99 degrees.
August 10
On August 10, 2012, a strong moisture-laden storm system brought widespread moderate to heavy rain to Southeast Michigan. Saginaw received 6.93″, the most of any other location by far and its highest one-day total on record. Combined with 1.10″ from the previous day and another 0.26″ from the following day, the three-day total from August 9-11 of 8.29″ ironically catapulted Saginaw to one of its wettest summers on record despite being amidst an ongoing severe drought.
Also on August 10, 1964, Detroit reported a record amount of precipitation in a day. The total precipitation was 3.21 inches.
August 11
On August 11, 2014, widespread heavy rain and severe flooding were observed across Southeast Michigan as a moisture-laden and unseasonably strong low-pressure system traversed the area. Rainfall generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches across Southeast Michigan. The heaviest rain, a band of 3 to 6 inches, fell in the heavily urbanized corridor of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties, centered on the I-696 corridor, especially near and east of I-75.
The resultant flooding was severe due to excessive runoff. Up to 14 feet of water was reported at the I-696/I-75 interchange and nearly all major expressways in the area were shut down due to flooding and debris. Dozens, if not hundreds, of cars, were submerged or suffered flood damage and numerous homes in the Detroit area were flooded.
There were no direct fatalities associated with the flooding, although two indirect fatalities were reported. The first was a 100-year-old Warren woman who was found deceased in her flooded basement. The second was a 68-year-old Warren man who suffered a heart attack while attempting to push his vehicle out of flooded waters in Oak Park. Cleanup efforts lasted well into the following week. The total damage came to an incredible $1.8 billion.
Also on August 11, 1967, three record lows of 47, 46 and 47 degrees occurred in Detroit from the 11th-13th, respectively.
August 12
On August 12, 1988, Saginaw county was belted with a peak wind gust at 81 mph at 5:49 pm.
August 13
On August 13, 1975, a 60 mph wind gust accompanied a severe thunderstorm just after dawn at 6:45 am in Genesee county. Also, in 1947, the temperatures reached 94 degrees on the 12th and 96 degrees on the 13th in Flint.
Forecast Discussion
--Weak Cold front swings through this evening-- The upper level low situated over Hudson bay will swing through a trough through the region. This will swing a cold front through the area late today into tonight. However the mid levels are fairly dry. So while there will instability and can`t rule out an isolated shower and perhaps a rumble of thunder, convection will be fairly weak. This trough will swing through tonight into tomorrow. The biggest threat this front will bring is to marine and that I will discuss in the below marine section. --Mild weather into the weekend-- As the trough moves eastward it will deepen and extend across the mid Atlantic. This will bring a positively tilted ridge build move over the area as high pressure builds over the central plains. Dry air will dominate the mid levels allow for mostly clear skies. Cooler air will advect from the north and allow for mild temperatures for this time of year. A trough dropping down through the ridge Saturday into Sunday will bring our next chance for precipitation. Still questions as far as intensity and timing.
I could not find one location in the Northern Hemisphere that is below 0F today, even inland Greenland (I may be missing a mountaintop somewhere). I think mid-August is the warmest time of the year for the N Hemisphere
Yesterdays official H/L at Grand Rapids was 78/58 there was no rain fall, it was the first time in 9 days that the mean was below average. The overnight low both in MBY and at GR was 57 For today the average H/L is 82/62 the record high of 98 was set in 1944 and the record low of 45 was set in 1972. At the current time it is clear and 63. The several days look to be uneventful with mostly sunny skies and temperatures cooler than average it will continue to be dry.
Slim
Get ready for an unending string of below normal temp days! Wow!
Great weather and a near perfect summer! Incredible!