I love this time of year when the crickets and cicadas are out in full force and the nocturnal insects are humming, buzzing, and chirping in the woods. It is quite a symphony of sounds especially at night and can be quite relaxing. Katydids and crickets are excellent examples of nighttime noise-making insects. These insects, which belong to the same Order (Orthoptera) make noises in similar ways: by rubbing their wings together. These insects usually make their high-pitched chirping noise at night to attract mates or to warn off predators.
I saw a katydid on the side of my house yesterday and rescued a cicada from my fish pond which was clinging to a maple leaf. He seemed grateful for another chance to live to complete his cycle.
Yesterday we reached 87° after an overnight low of 61°.
Today will be cooler and less humid with high temperatures in the low to mid 80s. There will be chances for showers or thunderstorms midweek, followed by the potential for hot and very humid weather on Thursday then cooling on Friday and through the weekend. Temperatures this weekend will be in the low to mid-70s.
U.S.A and Global Events for August 21st
1856: The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a windstorm on this day in 1856. According to tradition, Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662 was hidden within the hollow of the tree to thwart its confiscation by the English governor-general. The oak became a symbol of American independence and is commemorated on the Connecticut State Quarter. Click HERE for pictures of the tree from the Connecticut Historical Society.
1883: An estimated F5 tornado caused extensive damage to Rochester Minnesota on this day. The enormous roar was said to have warned most Rochester residents, as the massive funnel cut through the north side of town. Over 135 homes were destroyed, and another 200 damaged. Many of the 200-plus injuries were severe, and other deaths probably occurred but were not listed as part of the 37 total mentioned. This damaging tornado eventually led to the formation of the Mayo Clinic. Click HERE for more information.
1888 A “grand spectacle” of four waterspouts near Jacobson, MD overturned boats and moved ashore. 15 people were injured. Another tornado moved east-northeast near Still Pond, MD killing 10 people in a cannery. A total of 11 deaths and 40 injuries were reported from this tornado.
1984 The State Fair in Pueblo, CO had to be closed during a vicious hailstorm. Nine people were hurt, including one seriously.
Grand Rapids Forecast
[pdf-embedder url=”https://michigan-weather-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/8-21-grr.pdf” title=”8 21 grr”]
As a side note: southern California experienced a 5.1 magnitude earthquake as TS Hillary was moving into the area. No damage or injuries were reported though it must have felt like armageddon to those who had to suffer through two powerful earth systems.
Forecast Discussion
.SHORT TERM...(Today through Tuesday) Issued at 345 AM EDT Mon Aug 21 2023 The main focus of the short term is whether we`ll see any precipitation late tonight and Tuesday morning over the northern cwa. Today will be dry with some high clouds overhead. It will be noticeably less humid with dewpoints in the mid 60s...roughly 10 degrees cooler than yesterday due to the cold front that passed through earlier. The western part of that frontal boundary is acting like a warm front over Wisconsin and will see a LLJ develop tonight and impinge on that front. That`s usually a recipe for MCS development and the short range models are pointing in that direction, including the HREF. So, it looks like we`ll we`ll see storms develop well to our northwest tonight over Wisconsin and then move southeast along the thickness lines. However, as we get closer to Tuesday morning, the LLJ weakens quite a bit which should help to mitigate the strength of the MCS. By the time the storms cross northern Lake Michigan late tonight, they should be in weakening mode. As such we`re only carrying chance PoPs across the northern cwa Tuesday morning. It`s looking like much of Tuesday will be dry, especially outside of the northern cwa during the morning. Tuesday night may be another story, however. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Sunday) -- Showers and storms possible overnight Tuesday into Wednesday Strong overnight convection is possible into Wednesday with the potential for heavy rainfall. The large upper level high located over the central United States will continue to dominate the weather pattern through midweek. The main area of concern will be the potential for a mesoscale convective system, or MCS, early Wednesday. There remains strong directional wind shear as current deterministic 925 mb winds are southerly with northwesterly winds from 825 mb and above early Wednesday morning. The upwards of a 40 to 50kt LLJ should provide enough shear that coupled with ML CAPES could allow for early morning convection. SPC has thusly placed Western northern Lower in a marginal risk for severe storms. Along with this threat is that of heavy rainfall. The latest deterministic and ensemble trends show strong moisture transport vectors late Tuesday into Wednesday. Latest EC PWATS are +3 anomalies in the 1.75 to 2.5 inch range. This moisture does seem to be streaming from Hilary up and over the before mentioned high pressure. There remains some questions on QPF amounts and locating of heaviest rainfall. However, POPS Tuesday night into Wednesday morning are now likely. This is all out ahead of an approaching warm front. WPC has put much of lower Michigan in a marginal risk for excessive rainfall. -- Hot weather possible on Thursday The above mentioned warm front will bring highly anomalous temperatures into the region by Thursday. Current 850 mb temps are +25 to +30C. This translates to Max temps Thursday in the low 90s along the US 10 corridor to the upper 90s along the I 94 corridor. Along with these anomalous Max temps will be continued strong moisture advection which has the potential for dewpoints in the mid 70s Thursday afternoon. With that combination of heat and humidity could cause the southern half of southern lower to have heat indices in the low 100`s. So a heat advisory may be needed. The heat should be short lived as an upper level wave will bring a cold front through the area Friday into Saturday. There is some disparity on timing but cooler 850mb temperatures should have daily Maxs into the 80s by Friday and back into the 70s into the next upcoming weekend.
Looking forward to the cooler temps next weekend and next week.
GR lastest weather discussion talks about a possible Derachio coming through tomorrow night into Wednesday we will haft to keep a eye eyee on it …INDY
Really? I didn’t hear that tonight.
Picked some more blueberries… Apple season is soon!!! My raspberries will be coming in in a couple of weeks.
I use to make freezer applesauce. It was like having fresh apples on whatever you put it on. We make blueberry bread that I love!! It also has oatmeal and bananas in it. My girls put blueberries in their smoothies.
10 more days and it will be September!! Metoragist Fall love it!! Football season is here!! INDY
The first half of meteorological fall (September 1- Oct 15) is one of my favorite times of the year. Usually comfortable temps in the upper 60s to low 80s and pleasant conditions… the second half of fall is a different story 😀
What a summer, what a year! Keep it rocking baby!
Yesterday was a very warm and humid day. The official H/L was 88/63 but with the dew point in the mid 70’s it felt much hotter. There were 0 HDD’s and 11 CDD’s yesterday. The sun was out a reported 78% of the time. For today the average H/L is 81/61 the record high of 97 was set in 1916 and again in 1955 the record low of 44 was set in 1956. The record rain fall amount of 2.08” fell in 2005. Last year the H/L was 81/63 and there was a trace of rain fall.
The week ahead looks to have several up and downs so we can almost call it a elevator week. To day should see highs in the low 80’s tomorrow in the upper 70’s then the upper 80’s and maybe the lower 90’s on Thursday before falling back to the low 80’s on Friday. It could be just the low 70’s for highs on the week end. Lows could be from the low 60’s to maybe the low 70’s. There is a chance of some storms but we shall see.
Slim