Snow Ending – Weather History

We had another .6 of an inch of snow overnight which gives us 9 inches since November 1st well ahead of last year at this time.  Our current temperature at 7 am is 23°.  Yesterday we managed to get up to 26° after a low of 18°.

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Forecast Discussion

-Lake effect today

Tough call on what to do with the existing Winter Weather Advisory
but for now still no changes. So far nothing of any consequence has
occurred due to persistence of dry air, but guidance continues to
suggest a good burst of lake convection toward 12Z. If still not
much is going on at 12Z will likely cancel some or all of the
advisory.

Interestingly (and admittedly unexpectedly), outside of the
advisory, the shortwave currently passing across srn Lwr MI brought
a quick 0.5" of synoptic snow to GRR and now has pockets of
heavier snow near Hwy 127. This shortwave has an area of
subsidence and drying in it`s wake which continues to hold back
the lake effect.

However the next upstream shortwave over WI brings moisture and lift
across the lake after 09-10Z. Fcst sounding at MKG from the
NAMNest is impressive looking from 12Z to 15Z this morning, with
inversion heights around 10,000 ft and strong omega. Typically
this type of sounding leads to some locally heavy snow bands.

00Z HREF and other short range guidance has not changed much
regarding total QPF amounts and placement along the lakeshore; it`s
just delayed from earlier fcsts. HiRes models are placing a bullseye
of higher QPF near 0.25 around MKG and Grand Haven from 12Z to 18Z,
and are even showing a meso low circulation setting up in that
area. Winds shift northwesterly later this morning into the
afternoon behind that feature, so lake bands may spread south into
Allegan/Van Buren as well for a time.

-Light snow Thursday; rain Friday

Warm air is quick to return on Thursday in progressive pattern
aloft, but cold air still lingers at the sfc. Isentropic lift leads
to areas of light precip developing, especially north of I-96 in
the afternoon. Fcst soundings suggest light snow as primary
p-type as dry air to start the day leads to evaporative cooling.
Up to an inch of accumulation may occur north of I-96.

Models have locked in on solution of a deepening sfc low tracking
from Kansas City to Lake Huron Friday/Friday night, with swath of
accumulating synoptic snow passing west and north of our area.
This is a mainly a rain event for us, with widespread amounts of
around a half inch expected. A few snow showers could occur on
Saturday in the colder air on the back side of the system but
little or no accumulation expected.

The fcst continues to feature above to much above normal
temperatures next week as height rise in response to digging
longwave trough over the wrn US.

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Weather History – SW Michigan

December 5

2001: This is one of the warmest December days on record in Lower Michigan. Grand Rapids and Lansing set record highs of 69 degrees. Holland and Flint both hit 70 degrees.

December 6

1958: Arctic air settles into Lower Michigan during one of the coldest December on record. High temperatures are only in the teens on this date. More than two feet of lake effect snow piles up at Muskegon during the first half of the month.

December 7

1909: A snowstorm drops from 5 to 8 inches of snow across southwest Lower Michigan.

1972: Record cold weather prevails across southwest Lower Michigan with high temperatures only in the mid-teens and morning lows below zero.

December 8

1966: Temperatures reach record highs in the mid-60s only four days after record lows on the single numbers at Grand Rapids. The high of 64 degrees on this date followed the low of 8 degrees on the 4th.

2005: Cold weather prevails during the first half of December with record lows of 2 degrees above zero set at both Grand Rapids and Muskegon on this date.

December 9

1995: Arctic air and lake effect snow blasts Lower Michigan on this day and for the next three days. More than a foot of snow piles up near Lake Michigan and temperatures fall to the singles numbers at night, struggling only to the teens in the day.

December 10

1971: Record highs in the lower 60s are recorded across Lower Michigan as a southerly flow of warm moist air precedes a cold front. Record rains of around 2 inches fall as the cold front moves through.

2009: Near blizzard conditions develop as heavy snow combines with strong winds. From 12 to 16 inches of snow piles up across much of western Lower Michigan from December 9th to the 11th.

December 11

1995: A spell of frigid weather continues with high temperatures of only 10 degrees at Grand Rapids and 11 degrees at Muskegon.

2000: A blizzard strikes southern Lower Michigan with record snowfall and strong winds causing heavy drifting, shutting down travel. The 14.5 inches of snow that fell at Lansing is the heaviest on record for any December day. The 14.2 at Grand Rapids is also a record for any day of the month and contributes to December of 2000 becoming the snowiest month ever recorded there.

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Weather History – SE Michigan

December 5

On December 5, 2007, a significant lake effect snowstorm dumped up to 10 inches of snow over portions of Huron and Sanilac Counties. Several dominant lake effect snow bands made their way onshore with snowfall rates up to 2 inches per hour in the morning. Some of the higher snowfall reports received included Richmondville (Sanilac) 10.0 inches, Deckerville (Sanilac) 8.0 inches, Forestville (Sanilac) 8.0 inches, and Harbor Beach (Huron) 7.0 inches.

Also on December 5, 2001, the temperature rose to 70 degrees in Flint. This is the record maximum temperature for the month of December in Flint. Detroit and Saginaw both reached 67 degrees, which easily set the record high temperature for the date. This was part of a very warm December which was the 9th warmest for Detroit, the 4th warmest for Flint and the 5th warmest for Saginaw.

December 6

On December 6, 1998, the temperature rose to 69 degrees in Detroit. This set the record for the maximum temperature for the month of December in Detroit. This was followed by severe thunderstorms and wind damage across Southeast Michigan. The majority of the severe weather occurred near or south of Interstate 69. The most notable exception to this was a swath of wind damage across southern Sanilac County, from Marlette to Lexington. Barns and silos were destroyed near Marlette, and a home was deroofed.

December 7

On December 7, 1951, the temperature rose to 62 degrees in Detroit, which is 23 degrees above average!

December 8

On December 8, 2006, high temperatures were below freezing including 29 degrees at Detroit and Saginaw, and 27 degrees at Flint. This would be the last day in the month of December 2006 that the temperatures stayed below freezing. This December ranks as the 2nd warmest in Flint history, 3rd warmest for Saginaw, and the 5th warmest for Detroit.

Also on December 8, 1966, Detroit Metro had a record high of 66 degrees.

December 9

On December 9, 2005, a snowstorm tracked from southern Missouri to central Lake Erie and dropped a widespread 6 to 9 inches of snow across most of southeast lower Michigan. At the height of the storm, during the early morning hours, snow fell at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour and several reports of thundersnow were received. There were two bands of heavier snowfall across southeast lower Michigan. The first band was a band of 7 to 9 inches along the Interstate 69 corridor, and the second was a band of 6 to 8 inches stretching from Adrian to Detroit.

December 10

On December 10, 1876, the overnight temperature plummeted to -9 degrees in Detroit, 34 degrees below the average overnight temperature for this day!

December 11

On December 11, 2000, a powerful storm system moved east just south of Michigan, dumping heavy snow across all of the area, with some freezing rain and sleet near the Ohio border. Near blizzard conditions with up to 58 mph wind gusts were found across all of the area, with an outright blizzard in the Thumb. Many schools were closed for two to four days after the storm. Mail delivery the next day was spotty at best, and many businesses and government offices were closed. Specific snowfall amounts and impacts of the storm, by county… Bay: 8 to 10″ in Bay City. Genesee: 12-14″ fell, along with 4 foot drifts. Flint Bishop International Airport closed in the afternoon of the 11th, and ended up with 14″, the third largest snowfall on record. Up to 200 cars were stranded on Interstate 75 just south of Flint during the storm. In Burton, the roof of a window manufacturing company collapsed. Huron: 16.2″ in Port Hope. Lapeer: 12-16″ near Lapeer (city), with 3 foot drifts. Interstate 69 was closed from Davison to Imlay City. Lenawee: 5.7″ in Adrian with some freezing rain. Livingston: 10-15″ with 3 to 5 foot drifts. Macomb: 12″ across the county. Midland: 7 to 11″ in Midland (city). Monroe: 8.5″ just southeast of Milan; up to half an inch of freezing rain in Monroe with several trees downed due to ice and wind, and power outages. Oakland: 12″ across the county. St Clair: 12.3″ near Avoca; 14.7″ in Ruby; 17.5″ in Yale, 14″ in Capac. In Port Huron, 12-20″, closing the Blue Water Bridge to Canada. Saginaw: 11″ in Frankenmuth with 3 foot drifts, roads drifted shut. MBS (Tri Cities) International Airport had many flights cancelled, and the airport was closed at 830 pm on the 11th. Sanilac: 13″ in Brown City. Shiawassee: 15.5″ in Morrice. Tuscola: 10-14″ in Vassar. In Caro, 16.3″ of snow fell with 4 foot drifts. An 18 car pile-up on the north side of town required snowmobiles to rescue stranded motorists. Washtenaw: 8-12″ in Ann Arbor; closing Eastern Michigan University for only the second time ever. Wayne: 6-12″ across the county; three-eighths inches of freezing rain in Rockwood; At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, 6.1″ fell, with 197 departures and 165 arrivals cancelled.

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