After a quick taste of spring, we started on the downward slope back to winter with snow and colder than normal temps. Yesterday’s high was 56.5° which quickly fell after sunrise into the 30s. We ended up with 1.15 inches of rain and a tenth of an inch of snow from this last system to pass through.
April is generally our big step at transitioning into spring and I believe this may be true in some respects however looking at CPC reports and other forecasts I am thinking our roller coaster ride will continue through at least mid-month. Below are the updated CPC guesses:
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Forecast Discussion
- Snow Diminishes then High Pressure Leads to A Quiet Friday - Troughing will continue to exit to our east into New England as ridging across the northern plains slides into the Great Lakes. Breaks in clouds are expected later on this afternoon and evening as winds shift southerly and weaken and the lake effect potential ends. Meanwhile temperatures will hold strong below normal in the 30s to low 40s. - Precip Chances Late Saturday into Monday - There will be two chances for precipitation this weekend, the first occuring Saturday into Sunday as a shortwave currently moving through the western US slides west as it becomes negatively tilted. A secondary wave will then dip south into the area Sunday night into Monday bringing additional chances for precipitation. With both systems precipitation type will be the main question as model trends continue to show a mix of rain and snow. Areas north of I-96 still have the greatest chance for more snow than rain, although some mixed precipitation will still be possible as far south as I-94. We expect to see a break in precip Sunday morning before our secondary system arrives Sunday evening into Monday. - Mid-Week System - Dry conditions return by Monday night as brief high pressure builds into the region but active weather returns around mid-week. Split flow between a Northern Plain and Southern Gulf system will add a touch of complexity as deterministic models disagree on overall evolution. In general, the southern stream system is expected to track northeastwards into the Ohio valley (or potentially further east) and may intersect and merge with the deepening low exiting out of the Northern Plains. While there is still a fair amount of disagreement on overall evolution and whether these systems will merge over the Great Lakes, there is good consensus on conditions turning active again with a stronger system mid-week.
Looks like a nice second week of April. Today’s 8-14 day CPC has us in above average temps! That would be temps above 55 degrees.
So we will finally get the temps that you and Andy have been saying are right around the corner since February! What a joke!
How is that possible??? Rocky said it was gonna snow til June?
No, I said snow till April and that is exactly what happened! I have been right on the money all winter long, so keep your facts straight!
Fake news as usual!
Rocky (Rockford)
It is looking like at least 90 inches, so my official prediction is around 96 inches! Get ready!
November 8, 2021 8:52 pm
Too funny! I appreciate you searching for my comments from months ago! Your adoration is appreciated! Keep up the good work!
As usual over 2 feet off on your prediction again!! FACTS!!
Ouch! Good find! He also predicted a cold and snowy March I remember.
The daily break down for highs at Grand Rapids and Lansing for March. At Grand Rapids there was 1 day with a high in the teens. 1 day with a high in the 20’s 8 days in the 30’s 10 days in the 40’s 7 days in the 50’s and 4 days in the 60’s At Lansing there were 2 days with highs in the 20’s 7 days in the 30’s 12 days in the 40’s 4 days in the 50’s 5 days in the 60’s and one day in the 70’s
Slim
Tornado sirens going off, I assume it is a test (or a crazy April Fools joke)
Some locations test their sirens on Fridays but the statewide test the test is on April 13th
“The National Weather Service will use NOAA Weather Radio To conduct a statewide live test tornado drill on Wednesday April 13th. At 130 pm EDT, the National Weather Service will use a live tornado warning code on NOAA Weather Radio to simulate an actual tornado warning. These tests will cover all counties in Michigan and will originate from the NWS offices at Grand Rapids…Gaylord…Marquette… Detroit/Pontiac…and Northern Indiana. Persons are urged to practice their tornado safety measures during the drill.”
Slim
Yes whenever I hear a siren on a Friday at noon and there is no severe weather I typically assume it is a tornado test. Normally the NWS will mention it on social media beforehand which is why I was a bit confused.
Grand Rapids ended March 0.5 degrees above average. In other words, a very typical March at least for the Grand Rapids area.
Closer to you, Lansing was a very mild +2.3 degrees above average.
Yes Lansing was above average, however it’s certainly didn’t feel as such in my opinion.
Also note that Lansing had above average snow fall in March.
Slim
How is that possible?
I’ve noticed the first 2-3 weeks of April (in recent years) have been pretty chilly, so this isn’t too surprising. But I’m definitely ready for consistent spring weather, hopefully towards the middle of the month.
Either way May is next month (!!) so the nice weather season is getting closer
100% correct! Cool March and then a cello April! Typical cool start to Sprimg!
‘
Seems like we go through this dance every year. Some get to optimistic about spring a little to early when people should know better not to get fully excited for spring till the latter half of April.
The GFS ensemble is showing a decent warmup around the 12th, so hopefully mid-months things change. We will see
That would be nice! We shall see.
Light snow falling and a temperature of 32. Feels more like we entered February rather than April today!
You know it and we have been seeing a lot of these late winter days lately. It has been quite a cool stretch!
Yes I recorded snow at my house both yesterday and today.
Look at all that lovely Spring weather that’s been added to the forecast. APRIL FOOLS! (sorry, cheesy but had too).
It was great see a lot of cold and snow this past March! Wow! Now I am ready for some actual real warm Spring weather; you know sunny and temps in the 60’s! We surly haven’t seen much that yet! Incredible winter it was!
“a lot of cold and snow” = below average
The sun just broke thru the clouds here. With that sun the temperature is a cool 33 at this time.
Slim
It was a great March with above average temps and below average snow! Double digit days in the 50’s and 60’s. Local ski resorts closed relatively early in the month, and we had many beautiful days for golf.
Last April we saw 17 days between 60-80 degrees even though we only had low 40’s for highs for a quick stretch toward the end of the month. I’m hoping for a smoother climb into May this April.
Welcome to April. One of the issues I have with the CoCoRaHS is that the time that is used is 7AM to 7AM thus the amounts of rain/snow do not match up with the official NWS readings. Anyway that said I recorded 0.09″ of rain/melted snow yesterday and overnight. The overnight low here was 30 and it looks like the official overnight low at GRR was 31. I have a trace of snow on the ground at this time with a current temperature of 32. March ended up with a mean temperature of 36.2 at Grand Rapids and that was… Read more »
April 1st and the current temp in GR is 31 degrees with light SNOW! How could it be?
What, below normal temps at least through mid April! How is that possible after mookie keeps filling this blog with warm weather hype, fantasies and fake news? So far the transition period from Winter to Spring has been, cold, windy, cloudy and wet! Great golf weather? Incredible!