Happy Groundhog Day!

I often wonder about the observation of an event when a poor woodchuck is pulled from his den to see if he could see his shadow. If I were a woodchuck I believe I would bite the person who woke me up for such a ridiculous human event. Groundhogs are known as “true hibernators,” going into a dormant state in which their body temperature and heart rate fall dramatically—from late fall until late winter or early spring.

Of course, we all know the curse of the groundhog back in 2011 with him conjuring up a blizzard which was considered a once per decade event, though not like the events of January 1978 this became a memorable event in of itself bringing the following snowfall totals to Michigan:

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Allendale: 11 inches

Holland: 10.5 inches

Walker: 13.5 inches

Hart: 14 inches

Caledonia: 9 inches

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Byron Center: 11 inches

East Grand Rapids: 10 inches

Middleville: 10.5 inches

Hudsonville: 18 inches

Grand Haven: 14.8 inches

Cannonsburg: 14 inches

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I have some groundhogs who live in the woods out back – I leave them be as they were meant to be in the winter – sound asleep…

We have two whole days of sunshine and warmer temps which will lull us into a false sense of security before the next storm system moves in on Thursday with a mixed bag of precipitation, then cold air lurks behind it probably bringing the coldest temps of the season thus far and dependant of wind direction lake effect snows.

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INDY

Definitely could have blizzard conditions on Friday but will we see a blizzard warning stay tuned?? ……GET TO THE STORE AND GRAB MORE FOLKS!! Nasty road conditions coming wind driven heavy snow ….INDY

Rocky (Rockford)

http://wxcaster.com/gis-gfs-snow-overlays.php?STATIONID=GRR

Latest models give western kent county 12 to 15 inches of snow by next Monday great Scotty ….let it snow let it snow….INDY …

Sounds good to me?

Real winter baby! Enjoy the next 2 days because after that all heck breaks loose! Get your snowblowers ready and the best cold weather gear you can find!

Wind chill warnings winter storm warnings and more Winter Weather advisorys coming back loaded Winter of fun should be fun take care of your pets ..INDY

Even though the warm weather fanatics are still saying a mild and easy winter. Plenty of winter left and it is going to be wild!

Nathan (Forest Hills)

The arctic outbreak this weekend and next week is looking promising! I believe Dr Cohen mentioned a SSW event occurred a little while back, and there is a close correlation between stratospheric warming events and mid latitude arctic outbreaks, so definitely our best chance for cold/snow this season. And with strong winds, lake effect bands will likely move inland. Could be lots of snow if everything comes into play!

Yes a SSW event would be good for Grand Rapids bring it ….INDY

Mark (East Lansing)

What is SSW (other than a direction)?

Refers to a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event. I am not really familiar with the concept besides the fact that a SSW can increase our chances of getting a cold outbreak about 2-3 weeks later. Dr Judah Cohen (look him up on twitter) has been leading research on this

Oh, that’s right. I knew it sounded familiar. I read an article about SSW a month or two ago. Thanks Nathan.

We could be having highs in the single digits next week great Scotty… INDY

Barry in Zeeland

As for the weather…..wow! 10 years since our last actual blizzard! What a wimp of a Winter we’re having this year! Month after month of above average temps and miles below average snow. Seen the comments yesterday of no rain or thaws in January which I’m pretty sure are way off base. Slim can prob confirm, but I believe there were actually days with rain and many days with thaws (any day above 32 degrees).

Slim

At Grand Rapids in January of 2020 while the highest for the month of 41 was the coolest maximum for any January since 2009. However there were 3 days of 40 or better and a total of 16 days with highs of 33 or better. The mean of 28.1 was the 25th warmest January of record. And of course there was just 9.9″ of total snow fall. All in all a mild January for here.
Slim

That’s what I thought, half of the months days were “thaw” days. Thanks Slim!

Yes I agree a mild January. Of course ‘mild’ depends on perspective. Most days were in the 30s, with a couple in the 20s and 40s. So generally still a chilly/cool month.

Yes, Hot, warm, mild, cool and cold are always a perspective
Slim

Non weather post….past week has been rough. Nearly lost my 85 year old father to COVID. He was incredibly sick, but tests kept coming back negative so they didn’t know how to treat him. Finally figured out he was actually positive and now is doing much better with treatment, but not before passing the virus on to several more because of the failed tests.

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything works out well for everyone.
Slim

*SS*

So sorry to hear that. I hope you have a smooth recovery.

Hang in there, Barry. Sending up prayers for your pops.

Sandy (Hudsonville)

Keeping you and your family in my prayers. Wishing a speedy recovery for your Dad.

Mookie

Out of the last 69 days, we’ve only seen 14 below average days. This means 80% of our days since mid November have been mild!

I’m okay with a week or two of true winter. Then the warm up to spring begins! I love short winters!

Well Punxsutawney Phil did see his shallow this morning so it is now official that we will have at least 6 more weeks of winter. Of course we knew that yesterday. This morning there seems to be a big difference temperature wise across the area. While the official low at GRR was in the upper teens here at my house I dropped down to +9.5 and at this time I am at +10 with clear skies.
Slim