A good site to find tornado information is the Lansing State Journal which goes back to 1951 in its tornado archive. We have had 1237 tornados since 1951. The most active years were 2001 and 1976 with 42 tornados. Another site of course is Wikipedia which covers pre-1950 to present. High pressure will bring fair,…
Tornado Info – Today’s Weather – 4/6
April 1956
While storms rip across areas to our south back in early April 1956 Michigan had it last F5 tornado and it hit the Grand Rapids metro area. Thursday marked the 69 anniversary of Michigan’s last F-5 tornado that killed 17 people, injured hundreds more. April 3, 1956, was an unusually warm day with record highs in…
Increasing Clouds Today – 4/4
We should see another dry day today, with increasing clouds and rain chances this evening and overnight. Today’s highs will be in the mid-40s to mid-50s, with lows tonight in the mid-30s to low 40s. Yesterday our high was 62° and the low was 37°. Weather History 2003: A devastating ice storm strikes central Lower…
Dry Today 4/3
April showers bring May flowers, and we got a good start to the month with yesterday’s heavy rain, which was 2.48 inches (official) for Otsego—almost a whole month of rain in one day. We now have 6.49 inches for spring. The other CoCoRaHS stations around the area haven’t reported their totals yet as of 6…
Another Active Day 4/2
Consumers Power has most of the line damage clear in SW Michigan, with the exception of areas mainly south and east of Grand Rapids. I am sure they will be standing by throughout the state, anticipating more damage today. SPC Forecast A significant late-season winter storm will bring an expanding area of heavy snow, sleet,…
Active Weather for Tomorrow – 4/1
We have 23 ° at 6 am this morning. Yesterday the high/low was 43/30. Tomorrow, we have a repeat of Sunday’s storms in store. Consumers Power is reporting 2751 outages as of 6:30 a.m. My daughter, who lives west of Plainwell, has been without power since Sunday evening. Consumers Outage Maps Caledonia Tornado Wednesday Weather…
After the Storm 3/31
Late afternoon storms added a lot of excitement yesterday. I estimated a 55 mph wind in Otsego. We never lost power, but they did in Plainwell. Lots of branches and large trees were pushed over. The old Plainwell paper mill lost part of its roof and walls. Now, sadly, they will probably have to take…
Stormy Weather 3/30
We made 70° again yesterday with a morning low of 66°. We have 58° at 6 am this morning. We had .41 of an inch of rain on Friday which brings us to 3.20 inches for the month. Severe Weather Chances for Today Thunderstorms later in the day today could produce locally strong or damaging…
Soon it will be April
Soon it will be April On Tuesday we flip the calendar to April. April is sort of a birthday month in our family as my dear departed mother was born on April 7th My wife was born on the 22nd and my youngest son was born on April 1st. In 1986 the year my son…
Showers & Storms
Yesterday we reached 56° after a morning low of 26°. An active frontal boundary will set up across Michigan over the weekend, bringing rounds of showers and possible thunderstorms. Some of the storms on Sunday afternoon and evening could be severe. A sharp temperature contrast will exist across the front, with temperatures ranging from the…