The half way point of 2022.

July

Wow, time is sure flying by it just seems like yesterday it was the 1^st day of the new year and now it is the start of July. At Grand Rapids July in most years is the warmest month of the year. That was not the case in 2009 when both June and August were warmer. In 1947, 1900, 1937 and 1959 August was warmer than July. In the case of 1947 August was much warmer that year July had a mean of just 69.1 but August had a mean of 77.1.

The average 30 year mean at Grand Rapids is 72.8 with 3.86” of rain fall. The average H/L is stable at 82.8/61.7 on the 1^st and 82.5/62.6 on the 31^st The warmest days on average are between the 9^th and the 16^th with a average H/L of 83.4/62.7. The 15 year average is warmer with the average mean being 73.5 with the daily average H/L of 82.8/62.0 on the 1^st and 83.6/63.2 on the 31^st the warmest days are between the 15^th to the 22^nd with a average a H/L of 84.3/63.6. The 15 year average July rain fall is 3.84”. The warmest means for July are 79.7 in 1921. 79.2 in 2012. 78.7 in 1916. 78.1 in 1901. 77.3 in 1936. Honorable mention goes to 2011 with a mean of 77.0. The coldest means for July are 67.1 in 2009. 67.2 in 1992. 68.1 in 1950. 68.2 in 1996. And 68.4 in 2014. The driest Julys are 0.40” in 1934. 0.46” in 1934. 0.54” in 1898. 0.56” in 1951 and 0.66” in 1930. There has been a total of 13 years when less than 1” of rain fell at Grand Rapids the last time was in 1976. The wettest Julys are 1992 with 8.83”. 1950 with 8.42”. 1994 with 80.7”. 1912 with 7.47” 1917 with 6.91” honorable mention goes to 2006 with 6.90”. The record hottest day was 108 on July 13 1936 it was also 106 on July 12^th that same year. A high of 104 was also recorded in 2012 and 1934 for the hottest days ever recorded at Grand Rapids.  On average there are 5 days of 90 or better in July with the most being 18 in 2012 there have been 12 years of 0 days of 90 or better in July the last time was just last year.  On average there are 11 days of 86 or better in July with the most 27 in 2012 and 1921. In 2009 and 2000 there were no days of 86 or better. The record low for July is 41 on July 6^th 1983.  For the month the mean lowest reading is a cool 49. Over the years it had gotten down into the 40’s in 75 Julys.

A brief look at June 2022. At Grand Rapids the June mean was 69.2 That was a departure of just +0.3 so the month was just about average. The High for the month was 95 on the 21^st and the low was 45 on the 4^th there were 3 days of 90 or better 10 days of 85 or better. The coolest high was 65 on the 8^th While there were 2 nights when the low stayed above 70 most nights the lows were in the 50’s and there were a few lows in the 40’s. It was a sunny and dry month with 9 clear days and 19 partly cloudy days and only 2 cloudy days. There was just 1.42” of total rain fall. At Muskegon the mean there was 67.8 for a departure of just +0.4 that too is considered “average” they recorded 2.11” of rain fall. At Holland the mean there was 68.2 for a departure of jut +0.3 also considered “average” and they had 1.72” of rain fall. Over at Lansing they reported a mean of 71.0 for a departure of +3.0 for the largest departure from average not only in west Michigan but the largest departure by a good margin in the whole state of Michigan Lansing only recorded 1.56” of rain fall.

In looking at other locations I have to wonder why GR reported only 9 clear days. Other locations as you stated Lansing 19 clear 10 PC and 1 Cloudy. Kalamazoo 19 clear 11 partly cloudy and 0 cloudy. Holland 20 clear 9 partly cloudy and 1 cloudy. Battle Creek 18 clear 11 partly cloudy and 1 cloudy. For Muskegon the report is the same as GR (9, 19 and 2) Not sure if there is a mistake for GR or not. I have reached out to the Grand Rapids NWS office for a comment on that I will let you know if I get a reply.

Slim