Rain is beginning to move through this morning before daybreak. This should be through the area before noon, so not an all-day soaking event to be sure though we may see some brief downpours with some thunder and lightning. After the front pushes through the air will cool with the coolest being in the northern counties where there are chances of frost tomorrow morning.
We had a high of 87.6° yesterday with a low of 62.1°. The rest of the week will be much cooler through the Memorial Day weekend.
Weather History for SW Michigan
May 23
1966: A barn was destroyed by a tornado near Gobles in Van Buren County.
1973: A tornado destroyed three barns and damaged an industrial building in Winn in Isabella County.
May 24
1890: One person was injured as a tornado destroyed one home and a dozen barns northeast of Ithaca in Gratiot County.
May 25
1925: Lansing records its latest snow on record as snowflakes fall there with a low temperature of 32 and a high of 47 degrees.
1992: Widespread freezing temperatures do heavy damage to the fruit crop across southwest Lower Michigan. Record lows for today include 29 degrees at Lansing, 31 at Grand Rapids and 32 at Muskegon.
2006: Two weak tornadoes caused no damage as they briefly spun up between Beebe and Breckenridge in Gratiot County.
May 26
1961: Snow flurries are observed across Lower Michigan as record cold air moves in. Temperatures fall well below freezing the next morning, wiping out much of the fruit crop.
May 27
1907: Wet snowflakes fall at Grand Rapids and Muskegon. It is the latest snow on record at Grand Rapids.
1912: A tornado destroys barns and kills livestock near East Leroy in Calhoun County.
1960: Several farm buildings were damaged or destroyed by a tornado four miles east of Ionia.
1973: A tornado destroyed a barn and silo near Saranac in Ionia County. Another tornado did minor damage near Gun Lake in Barry County.
May 28
1955: A series of tornadoes put down an intermittent damage path more than 60 miles long from near Schoolcraft in Kalamazoo County to the east of Grand Ledge in Eaton County. One person was injured northwest of Charlotte as a barn was destroyed. Two homes were unroofed and the total damage was estimated at 150,000 dollars.
1991: A tornado damaged homes and destroyed outbuildings near Hart in Oceana County.
May 29
1895: The second heatwave of the month gets underway with record highs of 94 degrees at Grand Rapids and Lansing.
1947: Muskegon records its latest snow on record as some wet snowflakes mix in with a cold rain. The high temperature for the day is only 47 degrees after a low of 35.
Weather History for SE Michigan
May 23
On May 23, 1963, the overnight temperature dropped to 28 degrees in Flint, which is the record low temperature for the day. Interestingly enough, the very next year, in 1964, the daytime temperature rose to 87 degrees, setting the record high temperature for the date. This high-temperature record was equaled and thus superseded in 2007
Also on May 23, 2004, severe thunderstorms rolled across all of Southeast Michigan. One storm producing a 70 mph wind gust at Detroit Metro Airport which caused damage to a building under construction and one injury. The storms dropped 1.69 inches of rain on Detroit, 1.39 inches on Flint and 1.41 inches on Saginaw. That was the last of the heavy rainfall that pushed May of 2004 to the wettest May on record (Detroit – 8.46 inches, Flint – 8.19, Saginaw – 8.14). As a result, widespread flooding across Southeast Michigan caused over 100 million dollars in damages.
May 23
On May 23, 1963, the overnight temperature dropped to 28 degrees in Flint, which is the record low temperature for the day. Interestingly enough, the very next year, in 1964, the daytime temperature rose to 87 degrees, setting the record high temperature for the date. This high-temperature record was equaled and thus superseded in 2007
Also on May 23, 2004, severe thunderstorms rolled across all of Southeast Michigan. One storm producing a 70 mph wind gust at Detroit Metro Airport which caused damage to a building under construction and one injury. The storms dropped 1.69 inches of rain on Detroit, 1.39 inches on Flint and 1.41 inches on Saginaw. That was the last of the heavy rainfall that pushed May of 2004 to the wettest May on record (Detroit – 8.46 inches, Flint – 8.19, Saginaw – 8.14). As a result, widespread flooding across Southeast Michigan caused over 100 million dollars in damages.
May 24
On May 24, 1925, the temperature climbed to only 44 degrees in Detroit, setting the record for the record low maximum on this day.
Also on May 24, 1971, an F2 tornado moved through Tuscola County at 8:30 PM. This tornado is responsible for 1 injury and over $50,000 in damage. This was the strongest tornado ever to hit Tuscola County since 1950.
May 25
On May 25, 1896, an estimated F5 tornado touched down and moved northeast for about 30 miles, affected portions of Oakland, Lapeer and Livingston Counties. Towns affected included Thomas, Ortonville and Oakwood just after 9:00 pm. With 47 deaths, this is the second deadliest tornado ever in Michigan trailing only the Flint-Beecher Tornado of 1953. Nine of the fatalities were in a single home in Ortonville and parts of some homes were found dozens of miles away. Twenty-two people were killed in Ortonville, ten in Oakwood, three in Thomas, four in North Oxford and three in Whigville with others in more rural areas. Other significant tornadoes occurred in Tuscola County with one fatality, and in Mt. Clemens where two people died when 30 homes were destroyed.
On May 25, 1994, Linden reported 3-inch hail at 6:30 pm which caused $5,000,000 in crop damage.
Also on May 25, 2011, thunderstorms produced heavy rain across much of Southeast Michigan. Flint received 1.28 inches, Detroit Metro Airport had 1.67 inches and Detroit City Airport recorded 3.03 inches. This rainfall added to the already very wet spring to produce numerous flooded roads and a few flooded homes. In fact, this rainfall helped to push Flint to its 2nd wettest May and wettest Spring on record. It was the 2nd wettest spring in Detroit records.
May 26
On May 26, 1968, 2.56 inches of rainfall fell in Detroit. This is the greatest daily rainfall total for the month of May in Detroit.
May 27
On May 27, 2012, Numerous trees were downed and the awning was torn off of an I-75 rest stop located near Exit 160 as thunderstorm winds of up to 75 mph swept across parts of Saginaw and Bay counties.
On May 27, 1987, a two-day streak of temperatures at 90 degrees occurred on the 27th and 28th in Flint. Also on this date in 1994, there was a two-day streak of record lows on the 27th with 31 degrees and 28th with 36 degrees.
May 28
On May 28, 2013, numerous thunderstorms spawned six confirmed tornadoes in Shiawassee and Genesee Counties between the hours of 8:30 and 10:30 pm. Storm surveys revealed 2 EF0, 2 EF1, and 2 EF2 tornadoes had occurred in addition to sporadic wind damage. The damage included numerous snapped trees, lost roofs, and a destroyed barn. The most significant damage occurred a few miles east of Grand Blanc near the intersection of Hegel and Gale Roads, where a house was nearly destroyed in addition to a garage and external storage facilities.
Also on May 28, 2012, afternoon high temperatures soared to 95 in Detroit and 93 in Flint, both all-time records for the month of May.
Also on May 28, 1991, an F1 tornado spoiled dinner plans for the people of Huron County when it hit at 7:10PM causing roughly $5000 in property damage.
May 29
On May 29, 2011, a thunderstorm complex rolled through southeast Michigan during the peak heating of the day, resulting in scattered wind damage reports across the area, mainly south of Interstate 69. Embedded circulations within the line of thunderstorms lead to localized wind gusts to 80 mph with one EF1 tornado over southern Shiawassee County.
Forecast Discussion
- Showers and a few storms this morning - Showers and a few storms will continue this morning out ahead of the cold front. Instability is very weak at this point and will continue to decrease overnight. No severe wx will occur and any thunderstorms will just bring some occasional lightning and brief heavy rain. Most locations will just get some light to moderate rain showers rather than convection this morning. - Dry this afternoon through Thursday - A ridge of high pressure will briefly nudge in and bring dry wx this afternoon through tonight and much of Thursday. - Rain breezy and very cool Thursday night/Friday - A consensus of latest short to medium range guidance continues to indicate that a low pressure system will move east across the lower Great Lakes region Thursday night and Friday and bring rain and breezy conditions. It will also become unseasonably cool with mins Thursday night in the 40s and high temps Friday struggling to reach the lower to (perhaps) middle 50s. - Fair wx this weekend with moderating temps - Dry wx will return through the holiday weekend along with a gradual moderating trend of temps. High temps Saturday will only reach the lower to perhaps middle 60s with continued easterly winds. By Sunday we expect more sun with subsidence under the ridge and high temps around the 70 degree mark. Southeast to southerly return flow on the back side of the departing ridge will help to boost max temps into the lower to middle 70s by Memorial Day.
It sure rained here last night. The coolness in the air today was welcomed. We got some weeding done but tonight I put my fragile plants in the garage. I bought 2 baskets off a farmers trailer and I don’t know what the problem is but they are really struggling. Everything else is doing great. My tomato plants are doing great and someone told me to plant some basil near them and they will taste sweet. Time will tell. This weekend the weather looks beautiful!!
Wow to the wow the NWS has just put out a frost advisory for Newaygo counties inland to the north overnight is it the end of May or what ??? Who knew ??? Forget the heat woo woo Happy Memorial Day INDY
The CPC keeps the warmth on after a one or two day cool down. I love it!
Indeed, Plus, we need the rain. Received .77 last night.
73* degrees outside beautiful with a breeze no more heat does it get any better than this?? Hell no!! Happy Memorial Day!! INDY
Decent possibility of Northern Lights tonight. Sunspot fired 10 or 12 CME’s the other day and the first one just hit the earth today. The following ones could spark a storm.
0.77” here overnight. Not a drought buster, but about the total we’ve had combined for the last 2 months. Sun is out again baking the fields.
About the same here. Need much more rain, but this was helpful. Beautiful out now.
ADA: 7/10 inches overnight. Appreciated 😉
I so love sitting by a hot fire on a cool night drinking and listening to music saluting all our service men and women on Memorial Day weekend Friday can’t get here soon enough ohhhh can’t forget my hoodiee woo woo happy Memorial Day!! INDY
.55 of an inch of rain this morning – the last time it rained more than half an inch was way back on April 11th. The last time we had more than an inch of rain was March 26th with 1.56 inches. We have to go back to 10/22/20 for the last time we had over two inches of rain (2.62).
It will be interesting to see the CPC drought outlook maps in a few days and see if this rain had any effect. Definitely expect improvements to the NE of Grand Rapids, hopefully areawide.
My temps this weekend in Ludington Michigan Friday 56* Saturday 63* Sunday 65* Monday 71* does it get any better than this No …ahhhhhh nice and cool with a Fall like feel at night the fire will be hot bady happy Memorial Day ….INDY
Here at my house I recorded 1.09″ of rain fall overnight. Will have to see what GRR official total rain fall the event ends up at but for here that is the most rain for any event since September 8th last year. The overnight low and current temperature is 61.
Slim
We are now above average temps for May. Five out of the past six days have been 85-86 degrees. Wow!
At this time it looks like May 2021 will end up very close to average with a cold 1st half and a warm 2nd half.
Slim
Don’t forget about our +20 degrees above average day May 2nd.
Look at all of that snow out West! Nothing like accumulating snow in June!
https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php?m=gfs&p=sn10_acc&rh=2021052600&fh=384&r=conus&dpdt=&mc=
Rain = fantastic! Forget the heat and get ready get for cold nIghts and cool days! Incredible!
3 hours of heavy a rain that we definitely needed for all of west Michigan is getting a real soaking this morning what a cold front coming through this will make way for a cooler beautiful holiday weekend great drinking burning hoodiee weather coming up!!! Happy Memorial Day the unofficial kick off to Summer fun is here …INDY