Good morning. For better or worse I am going to the Tiger game today. I am going with a work friend and for my first time it is on a bus. I have never gone on a tour bus to a game before. And of course the weather is not going to be the best. So, it may be a long day for us.
The SW Michigan weather history has this for August 17.
August 17
1988: It is the last hot day of the hot and dry summer of 1988. Record highs were set at Grand Rapids with 98 degrees, Lansing with 95, and Muskegon with 93. Thirteen of the first seventeen days of August had highs over 90 degrees at Grand Rapids, but none after today. The transition to cooler weather is marked by severe thunderstorms that bring large hail and damaging winds during the late afternoon and evening.
Even though it was 36 years ago I still remember the early evening of August 17th, 1988. The summer of 1988 was indeed a very hot one. While the mean temperatures for June 68.5° July 74.6° and August 73.4° were not the hottest for any of those months the highest readings of 98°for June, 100° for July and 98° for August were very hot. June was very dry with just 0.25” at Grand Rapids July and August were wetter. That summer had a total of 37 days of 90 or better. That 37 days of 90 or better is the record at Grand Rapids. With May having 1, June having 10 and July and August having 13 each. This year so far there have only been 8 so far at Grand Rapids. 1988 had 11 days when the temperature did not drop below 70° So far this year there has been 1 such day. While June and July had many days with highs in the 90’s or better with low dew points the lows fell into the 60’s, 50’s and even the 40’s. But it was the first 17 days of August that the heat poured on. From August 1st to the 17th there were 13 days of 90 or better. From the 11th to the 17th there were 7 day in a row of 90 or better. For the month there were 2 days of 98, 1 day of 97, 3 days of 95, 3 days of 93 and 4 days of 91. The month also had 9 days of lows of 70 or above with 1 at 76, 1 at 75, 1 at 74, 1 at 73. 4 at 72 and 1 at 70. Remember that was in the first 17 days.
On August 17th the day was hot and humid. We only had window air conditioning at that time. The official high for the day was 98. I had 101 at my house. During the day a line of storms formed over the UP. That line sank slowly south during the day. There was a east west line. It did not reach Grand Rapids until after sunset. We had a picnic table in the back yard, and I watched the storms come in from the north. They did not reach GR until after 9PM. There was steady lightning for over 3 hours to the north. After the storms it did not get any warmer than 81 for the rest of August and the high was only 80 in September. For one of the biggest weather pattern changes we have seen. The big takeaway is that 1988 had a record number of days of 90 or better and that ended on August 17th
The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 83/64 there was 0.38” of rainfall the sun was out 36% of the time the highest wind gust was 36 MPH out of the W. there were a couple of thundershowers. Here in MBY I recorded 0.93” of rain yesterday and overnight. For today the average H/L is 81/61 the record high of 98 was set in 1988 63 was set in 2000. The record low of 45 was set in 1894 and 1976. The most rainfall of 1.94” fell in 1995.
REA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
328 AM EDT SAT AUG 17 2024
KEY MESSAGES
– SHOWERS/STORMS THROUGH SUNDAY
– FAIR AND COOL NEXT WEEK
DISCUSSION
ISSUED AT 328 AM EDT SAT AUG 17 2024
– SHOWERS/STORMS THROUGH SUNDAY
NO BIG CHANGES TO THE GOING FORECAST.
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WAS LOCATED OVER WESTERN LAKE MICHIGAN EARLY
THIS MORNING. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED THE DEEP UPPER TROUGH A
BIT FARTHER WEST ACROSS WESTERN WISCONSIN. BOTH WILL SLOWLY MOVE
EAST TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY. CONVECTION WILL ONCE AGAIN BE MODULATED
BY THE DIURNAL UPTICK IN INSTABILITY AND BY SHORT WAVES ROTATING
AROUND THE UPPER LOW.
ONE SUCH SHORT WAVE IS POISED TO MOVE ACROSS THE CWA THIS
MORNING. REGIONAL RADAR DOESN’T SHOW MUCH ACTIVITY OVER WISCONSIN
BUT AS DIURNAL HEATING OCCURS, WE’LL SEE MUCAPE VALUES CLIMB TO
AROUND 1200 J/KG BY THIS AFTERNOON WHICH WILL BE MORE THAN ENOUGH
FOR CONVECTION TO DEVELOP. WE’LL CARRY HIGHEST POPS THIS
AFTERNOON. LIMITED SHEAR WILL BE IN PLACE THROUGH THE WEEKEND, SO
STRONG/SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. ANOTHER LULL IN ACTIVITY IS
EXPECTED TONIGHT AS INSTABILITY PLUMMETS.
SUNDAY, BOTH THE SURFACE AND UPPER LOWS SHOULD BE OVER LAKE HURON.
ANY RESIDUAL SHORTWAVES WILL MAINLY AFFECT THE EASTERN CWA AS THEY
MOVE SOUTH FROM THE STRAITS WHICH IS HOW WE’LL PAINT THE POPS.
DESPITE HIGHS IN THE MID 70S TODAY AND SUNDAY, DEWPOINTS WILL BE
UNCOMFORTABLY HIGH AROUND 70 MAKING FOR VERY HUMID CONDITIONS.
– FAIR AND COOL NEXT WEEK
THE RAIN SHOWERS SHOULD BE MOVING OUT SUNDAY EVENING AS THE UPPER
TROUGH AXIS AND SURFACE LOW MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. FAIR WEATHER WITH
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK AS NORTHWEST
FLOW REGIME BRINGS IN SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OF CANADIAN ORIGIN.
OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL DROP INTO THE 40S TO LOWER 50S MONDAY, TUESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY NIGHTS.
Detailed Forecast For Grand Rapids
Today
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. High near 77. Light and variable wind becoming west northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. North northwest wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 58. North wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 77. North wind 6 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Monday Night
Clear, with a low around 52.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 76.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 51.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 76.
Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 53.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 80.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 56.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
1.5 inches of rain – 2 day total so far!!! Incredible!!
Feels like a nice Fall day today. We have been dead heading flowers and trimming back some things that got wild. The tree behind my place is almost all orange.
Wondering if the activity to the North will visit GR…
Doesn’t look like it. Here the sun has been shining.
1.59 inches of rain in the gauge this morning. Yesterday our high was 86 and the low was 65.