News year’s eve.
2022 is now almost in the record books. The year went by very fast. What will 2022 be remembered in the weather news? I would say for Michigan the top two weather events for 2022 would be the May tornado in Gaylord and the December blizzard here in west Michigan. I will add that the snow melt we just had was one of the fastest now melt events we have ever had here in Grand Rapids. If you have any top weather events for 2022, put them in the comments.
For the year the mean at Grand Rapids looks like it will be around 48.7 and that would be cooler than the 30-year average of 49.3. The high for the year was 95. There were a total of 7 days of 90 or above at Grand Rapids a total of 36 days of 85 or above. The low for the year was -2 and there were 2 nights where the temperature fell to 0 or below. There were 20 nights when the temperature fell to 10 or below. Grand Rapids has had around 37.73” of precipitation this year since July 1st there has been 67.7” of snow fall. Since January 1, 2022 Grand Rapids has had 117.9” Of course snow fall records are not kept that way. The total for last winter (November-April) was 71.0”. Barry yesterday asked if this was the fastest snow melts at Grand Rapids. And no, they do not keep records of such events. I have not looked at ever possible snow melt event but here are the fastest I have found. December 2022 from 17″ to a trace in 3 days. December 2008 from 17″ to 0 in 3 days. 1985 February from 17″ to a trace in 5 days. for a honorable mention December 1984 5″ to 0 in one day. I remember that one as there was that 5″ on the ground before I went to bed, and it was all gone by morning. I am sure there are others but that is what I have found.
For today New Years Eve. At Grand Rapids the warmest was 60 in 1965, I was in Alpena that year and the high on that day up there was 62. The record low of -14 was in 1976 the wettest was 0.75” in 1978 when 8.2” of snow fell. The most snow for the date is 9.7” in 1978. For New Years day the record high is 56 way back in 1897 it reached 55 in 2011. The record low of -15 was set in 1968 and 1964. The wettest is 0.65” in 1985 of that 2.0” was snow there was 5.6” of snow the night before and there was a major ice storm in the Kalamazoo area. The record snow fall for any January 1st at Grand Rapids is 5.7” in 1995.
The official H/L at Grand Rapids yesterday was 54/38 that high of 54 is the 2nd warmest maximum and the low of 38 ties for 1992 for the 2nd warmest minimum for any December 30th at Grand Rapids. There was 0.03” of rain fall there was no snow fall and there was a trace of snow on the ground. The average H/L for today is 33/21 the record snow fall of 9.7” fell in 1957.
DISCUSSION
(TODAY THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY)
ISSUED AT 345 AM EST SAT DEC 31 2022
— RAIN EXITS BUT CLOUDS PERSIST —
A DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT EXTENDS FROM SOUTHERN CANADA DOWN
INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO IS SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD. A RIBBON OF
MOISTURE ALONG THE BOUNDARY OF THIS TROUGH AND THE HIGH PRESSURE
OUT EAST WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM AROUND THE HIGH AS THE TROUGH
MOVES SLOWLY EASTWARD PUSHING THE ENTRENCHED HIGH PRESSURE OFF
SHORE. AS THAT MOISTURE MOVES EAST, ANY LINGERING SHOWERS WILL
END. HOWEVER, THERE IS COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM
THE RAINFALL AND MELTING SNOW THAT HAVE FORMED A COLD POOL AT THE
SURFACE WITH A DRY INVERSION ALOFT. THAT WILL ALLOW FOR LOW
CLOUDS TO PERSIST THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY. SO EXPECT CLOUDY BUT
DRY CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. THERE COULD BE
SOME LIFTING AND A FEW BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS LATE TODAY, HOWEVER
THAT WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS THE TROUGH ADVANCES IT WILL MOISTEN
THE MID LEVELS.
— MIXED PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE NEW YEARS EVE INTO NEW YEARS DAY —
THE BEFORE MENTIONED TROUGH WILL BECOME SHALLOWER AS IT IS
DEAMPLIFIED AS THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH MOVES EASTWARD AND THE PATTERN
BECOMES MORE ZONAL. SEVERAL SHORT WAVES WILL HOWEVER MOVE THROUGH
WITH MID LEVEL MOISTURE BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIPITATION TO
THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. THE MAIN FORECAST
QUESTION IS HOW MUCH PRECIPITATION, WHEN WILL IT MOVE THROUGH AND
WHAT FORM WILL IT TAKE. TO ANSWER THE FIRST, THE GEFS ANOMALIES
CONTEND THAT IT PWATS WILL BE 0.5 OR LESS, IN TERMS OF QPF, LESS
THAN A TWO TENTHS IS EXPECTED. THE ZONAL PATTERN WILL SPURN THE
MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE THROUGH QUICKLY, FROM 06Z TO 18Z. AS FAR AS
PRECIPITATION TYPE, LOOKING AT VARIOUS SOUNDINGS, THE SFC
TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN BELOW ZERO, WITH A WARM LAYER ALOFT
WITH A PERIOD OF A DRY DGZ. THIS INDICATES THAT A PERIOD OF
FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE IS POSSIBLE FROM 06Z TO 12Z. HOWEVER,
TEMPERATURES WILL BE MARGINAL AND ACCUMULATIONS ON SFC WILL BE
LIGHT. ANY PRECIPITATION WILL TRANSITION TO RAIN AFTER SUNRISE.
THE MOISTURE THOUGH, WILL HAVE NOWHERE TO GO SO PERIODS OF DENSE
FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY MORNING.
— BETTER CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY —
WARM AIR ADVECTION CONTINUES TO REAR ITS UGLY HEAD FOR THE NEW
YEAR. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FOUR CORNERS AND
BEGIN ITS TREK EASTWARD BRINGING GULF MOISTURE TO THE MIDWEST.
TEMPERATURES WILL BOUNCE BACK INTO THE UPPER 50S BY TUESDAY AS A
MORE SIGNIFICANT LOW MOVES INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION.
THE MODELS RANGE ON QPF AMOUNTS, HOWEVER GEFS ANOMALIES ARE +5
WITH PWATS OVER 1.25 INCHES. SO THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT SIGNAL FOR
A WARM AND WET SYSTEM. FOR THOSE WHO QUESTION THE GEFS AN D MAY
SAY ITS UNDER REPRESENTATIVE, THE EC ENSEMBLES SHOW SIMILAR
RESULTS, THOUGH ANOMALIES ARE +3. SO A PERSISTENT WET SIGNAL IS
EXPECTED WITH THE MOST MOISTURE THROUGH SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. SO A
RAINY MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH AT LEAST THE FIRST HALF OF TUESDAY IS
LIKELY.
— COLDER WEATHER RETURNS NEXT WEEKEND —
ONCE THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OPENS UP AND A POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH
BEGINS TO MOVE EASTWARD, IT WILL DROP COLDER TEMPERATURES BACK
INTO THE AREA, TUESDAY NIGHT. BY WEDNESDAY 850MB TEMPS SHOULD DROP
BELOW ZERO. COUPLED WITH THIS DROP IN TEMPERATURES WILL BE A
THICKNESS ADVECTION AND AN INCREASE IN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT AS A
BAROCLINIC LOW MOVES INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL BRING A COLD WIND
WEDNESDAY MORNING. WHILE THERE WILL BE FLUCTUATIONS EXPECT COLDER
TEMPERATURES TO RETURN WITH ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SNOW TO BE
POSSIBLE NEXT WEEKEND.
KENT-
INCLUDING THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS
345 AM EST SAT DEC 31 2022
EARLY THIS MORNING
CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 30. LIGHT WINDS.
TODAY
CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S. LIGHT WINDS.
TONIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW
SHOWERS, POSSIBLY MIXED WITH FREEZING RAIN OVERNIGHT. LOWS IN THE
UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH BECOMING SOUTH OVERNIGHT.
NEW YEARS DAY
CLOUDY. A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS UNTIL
MIDDAY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S. SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH BECOMING
WEST IN THE AFTERNOON.
SUNDAY NIGHT
CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 30S. LIGHT WINDS.
MONDAY
CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS IN THE
AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. LIGHT WINDS BECOMING EAST 5 TO
10 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
MONDAY NIGHT
RAIN SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. CHANCE OF RAIN
90 PERCENT.
TUESDAY
RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S. CHANCE OF RAIN
70 PERCENT.
TUESDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE MID 30S.
WEDNESDAY
CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS
IN THE UPPER 30S.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING PARTLY
CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE MID 20S.
THURSDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS AROUND 30.
THURSDAY NIGHT
PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S.
FRIDAY
PARTLY SUNNY UNTIL MIDDAY THEN CLEARING. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER 30S.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! MAKE IT AN AWESOME ONE.
For me it’s definitely how cloudy this year was. I’d have to imagine this was a near record cloudy year. For a specific weather event… there weren’t that many, so probably the Christmas Blizzard. The event was really nothing unusual to me, but we did have a blizzard warning for the first time in 11 years. Hope everyone has a great New Year!
Thank you GR NWS for reporting such accurate temp readings with your state of the art equipment! Excellent and keep up the great work!
Being hit by the EF-3 tornado in Gaylord was the biggest weather event for me. Wild. It’s a feeling you can’t describe unless you experience it in real time. Then the scramble of making sure everyone was ok when the tornado past by. I’ll never forget it
Thanks Slim! I’m not sure what I would pick for weather events for the past year, it’s all been kind of a blur. I guess the coolest event we saw was the intense lightning storm one night in either October or early November. It went on for hours with spidering and colored streaks filling the whole sky. Maybe the blizzard followed by the anti-blizzard meltdown….storm itself was nothing overly memorable, but the quickness of the meltdown sure was, almost shocking. But most of all I’ll remember 2022 for the mundane, nonstop sunshine from May through October. I’ll remember that because… Read more »
Agreed! May to Mid October was incredible. Tons of warmth and sunshine, and a very long summer.
Speaking of which, I see parts of Lower Michigan are now in severe drought due to lack of rain and snow.
At the current time there is no really cold in the foreseeable future, in fact the record high for Tuesday January 3 is in play. The current record at Grand Rapids is 59 and the major models are hinting at highs in the upper 50’s to 60. There is no cold showing up as far as mid January. Will this be a back loaded winter or will it just be a very mild winter. With the current snow fall of 67.6 I would expect that the total snow fall will be above average if the end of the winter is… Read more »
We saw record highs in Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste Marie, and Pellston yesterday!
I will post my 2022 weather events on tomorrows post
It looks like 2022 will be our 4th warm year in a row! Well, excluding the reporting problems going on at NWS GR. Bring on the blowtorch!
Nice stats Slim! So GR was below normal for temps this year! How is that possible with all warm weather hype and propaganda on here from mookie (aka fixxer)! Incredible and keep the below normal temps rocking in 2023!
The ground is not yet frozen, which likely assisted with the quick melt.
Happy New Year!