Scattered Rain – Weather History

We have some scattered light showers moving through the area this morning.  Today will be similar to yesterday with the showers moving on then we should see some sunshine this afternoon with temperatures back into the mid-60s once again.

Grand Rapids Forecast

Weather History for SW Michigan

September 10

1917: High temperatures were only in the middle 50s as cool and cloudy conditions prevailed.

1931: A record high of 94 degrees was set at Grand Rapids, contributing to the warmest September on record there.

1943: The USS Grand Rapids is launched from Superior, Wisconsin. The weather in Grand Rapids, Michigan is cool with a low of 39 degrees. The ship was outfitted to take weather observations but was damaged by a hurricane as it sailed towards Bermuda. It was repaired and provided vital weather observations in the North Atlantic through the end of World War Two.

1946: A weak tornado hit near Albion in Calhoun County around 730 AM, with damage limited to several downed trees.

September 11

1986: Clusters of thunderstorms moving along a stalled front bring record rains to Lower Michigan for the second straight day. Widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches resulted in extreme flooding and contributed to making September 1986 the wettest month on record across the area.

2013: A severe thunderstorm with wind gusts of up to 80 mph brought down numerous trees and power lines in Albion, Michigan. Albion College was closed for several days due to all the wind damage and loss of power.

September 12

1986: From 6 to 12 inches of rain in three days resulted in record flooding from Muskegon to Saginaw. The flooding was worsened by the collapse of several dams. Ten people were killed and damage estimates approached half a billion dollars.

September 13

1939: A record-breaking heat wave begins with the temperature hitting 95 degrees at Grand Rapids.

1952: Muskegon reaches 92 degrees for its third record high temperature in a row.

1962: A severe thunderstorm struck Lansing with wind gusts over 65 mph, producing light damage across the city.

2008: Five tornadoes strike southern Lower Michigan. Four of the tornadoes were spawned by one thunderstorm. A car dealership and a restaurant were damaged in Paw Paw and weak tornadoes damaged trees near Mattawan in Allegan County, Millers Corner in Kalamazoo County, and Brookfield in Eaton County. Several buildings had roof damage from a tornado that struck Plymouth in Wayne County.

September 14

1928: Tornadoes struck across Lower Michigan. A tornado hit Mason County south of Scottville damaging at least three homes and injuring two people. The roof of one home was carried over a mile. Another tornado destroyed several barns, killing cattle about 2 miles south of Cedar Springs in Kent County. What may have been a tornado took part of the roof off a factory and warehouse in Grand Rapids.

2008: Ten days after the remnants of Hurricane Gustav drenched southern Lower Michigan, the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought another round of heavy rain. From 3 to 6 inches of rain caused flooding, with some road washouts.

September 15

1939: A four-day heat wave peaks across western Michigan with Grand Rapids hitting 97 degrees and Lansing 94 degrees.

September 16

1886: A swarm of tornadoes hits southern Lower Michigan from late morning into the early afternoon. At least ten separate tornadoes struck, causing damage in Cass, Livingston, Kalamazoo, Eaton, and Clinton Counties. One person was killed and another injured in a tornado that hit Brighton.

1899: Grand Rapids records a high of 98 degrees, setting the record for its hottest September temperature, which would be tied on September 2, 1913.

Weather History for SE Michigan

September 10

On September 10, 2017, Flint tied the record low of 36 degrees last reached in 1969. This was the 3rd day of reaching or exceeding record lows in the first 10 days of September.

On September 10, 2002, a strong cold front moved through eastern Michigan during the afternoon. Due to the drought conditions that year, the thunderstorms resemble those of the high plains with high cloud bases, less rainfall, and strong winds. Hundreds of power outages were blamed on these thunderstorms. The more widespread tree damage in eastern Michigan occurred across portions of Shiawassee, Huron, and Livingston counties.

Also on September 10, 1950, a record 6.04 inches of rain fell in Flint. The yearly precipitation average in Flint is 24.44 inches. In one day, Flint received nearly a quarter of its yearly precipitation average.

September 11

On September 11, 2000, widespread, severe urban flooding resulted in a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Wayne County. The communities most severely affected included Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Van Buren Township, Wyandotte, and Wayne. Over 15,000 residences and other structures in Wayne County suffered at least some flood damage. Numerous motorists had to be rescued from their stalled and stranded vehicles. The Governor of Michigan estimated $19 million in personal property damage in Wayne County but said that estimate was conservative.

Also on September 11, 1986, Saginaw received 4.55 inches of rainfall. The previous day (September 10, 1986), Saginaw had received 5.51 inches of rainfall. This makes a two-day total of 10.06 inches of rainfall in Saginaw – almost three times the amount of rainfall that Saginaw normally receives throughout the entire month.

September 12

On September 12, 2021, a severe storm tracked along a stationary front from Ludington to Mount Pleasant, then took a turn to the southeast and produced hailstones 2 inches in diameter near Brant Township and 1.75 inches near Chesaning.

On September 12, 1986, a 3-day period of persistent rainfall that caused the worst flooding in 50 years finally ended, which resulted in damage between 400 and 500 million dollars.

September 13

On September 13, 2019, severe storms tracked across the Metro Detroit and Thumb regions. Hail up to golf ball-sized was observed in southwest Oakland County while a wind gust to 72 mph was measured over the Detroit River.

On September 13, 2008, tropical rains started to fall over Southeast Lower Michigan. In about 48 hours from the evening of September 12 to the evening of September 14, 3 to 6 inches of rain fell. The rain was in part due to a slow-moving cold front that crossed Lower Michigan associated with moisture from a Pacific tropical storm and the remnants directly from Hurricane Ike that struck the Texas coast on September 12.

Also on September 13, 1962, in Wayne County, there were wind gusts of 73 mph along with a thunderstorm.

September 14

On September 14, 2021, multiple rounds of strong to severe storms impacted the region from the early afternoon through the late evening. Hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter was observed north of Howell around 5:55 p.m.

On September 14, 1996, a pressure of 993mb was recorded in the “eye” of an intense storm system that formed over Lake Huron that had many uncanny similarities to a tropical hurricane. In fact, this storm was nicknamed the “Huroncane”. By 2 PM on this day, the “eye” of this storm measured 20 miles across and was ringed by tall cumulus clouds resembling the eyewall of a normal hurricane. At one point, this storm even produced tropical storm-force winds (39-73mph).

September 15

On September 15, 1939, the temperature rose to a record 100 degrees in Detroit for the day. This was the highest temperature record for the whole month of September.

September 16

On September 16, 1955, Flint experienced a record high of 90 degrees. This marked the beginning of a 3-day record high streak in Flint, with the 17th and the 18th experiencing temperatures of 94 and 93 degrees respectively.

Forecast Discussion

Radar early this morning shows a decaying area of showers and
thunderstorms crossing Lake Michigan. A few lightning strikes
remain within the band, but much less than a couple of hours ago.
This area of precipitation was generated by a short wave rounding
the bottom of the upper trough that`s swinging through the state.
The atmosphere over land is fairly stable and we expect the
showers to eventually dissipate as they move inland during the
next few hours.

The upper trough axis should clear the eastern edge of the cwa by
early afternoon, after which high pressure will build in. Bufkit
RH progs show low levels drying out after 15z as the trough axis
moves through. This should lead to quite a bit of sunshine by
afternoon.

Tonight will be the coldest of the week. High pressure, clear
skies, and light wind will help temperatures fall into the mid to
upper 30s over the northern cwa to lower to mid 40s in the south.
Patchy frost is possible near US-10 after midnight tonight.

A generally sunny day is expected Thursday and temperatures will
climb into the upper 60s.

Long term period looks quite uneventful with surface high pressure
in place much of the time. There is one time frame where we see a
bit of sensible weather (some light rain) and that is Saturday
night into Sunday. An upper trough will be moving through the area
at that time which will push a weak surface cold front through the
state. Sunday afternoon is when we have the highest pops (30-50
percent) in the forecast. Otherwise, mainly dry weather is
expected. 850mb temperatures through the long term range between
+8C and +14C which is pretty typical for this time of year. Normal
highs are in the middle 70s at Grand Rapids today and through the
long term we will see highs in the upper 60s to middle 70s. So,
near to slightly below normal temperatures through the period.