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Warmer Today – Weather History

Yesterday was a pleasant day by November standards in that there was no rain and the sun was making its brief late fall appearance.  We currently have 55˜ at 6:30 this morning.  Yesterday’s high was 47° and a low of 33°.

Clouds return today with rain in the forecast – precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible.

For those of you wondering about the weather for Thanksgiving week, this is the latest from the NWS.

The latest outlook for the Thanksgiving Holiday Period looks like temperatures will average cooler than average. Temperatures are typically in the low to mid-40s. This year, highs will be likely in the 30s. With this cooler weather pattern expected, lake effect snow will be possible.


Weather History for SW Michigan

November 14

1908: Heavy snow falls across western Lower Michigan with a total of 16 inches at Muskegon, a record total for any November day.

November 15

1933: Michigan is in the grip of a four-day cold snap. The low of 10 degrees at Grand Rapids only rise to 18 degrees during the afternoon as lake effect snow showers swirl around and an icy northwest wind makes it feel even colder.

November 16

1959: A vast area of arctic high pressure brings record cold to much of the continental United States. High temperatures only reach the teens across much of Lower Michigan followed by record lows in the single digits on the morning of the 17th.

November 17

1989: Grand Rapids picks up seven inches of snow, bringing accumulations during a three-day storm to over a foot.

2013: A squall line of severe thunderstorms moved through Lower Michigan during the afternoon bringing widespread wind damage. Hundreds of trees were knocked down and thousands lost power from downbursts and brief tornadoes along the line of storms.

November 18

1958: Record high temperatures are set all across Lower Michigan as a southerly flow of air pushes afternoon high temperatures to around 70 degrees. At Muskegon, the temperature hits a record 71 degrees for the second day in a row.

2014: Arctic air prevails with high temperatures in the teens and heavy lake effect snow. Nearly 10 inches of snow falls at Grand Rapids, contributing to a record November total of 31 inches.

November 19

1930: Record late-season warmth was across Lower Michigan with highs of 74 degrees at Grand Rapids and Lansing.

November 20

1869: More than a foot of snow fell at Lansing, setting a record for the most ever recorded during the month of November.

2000: An intense lake effect snow squall dropped almost a foot of snow on Grand Rapids, setting a record for the most snow on a November day there.


Weather History for SE Michigan

November 14

On November 14, 1986, the mercury fell to a record low in Flint of 12 degrees for two days in a row (the 13th and 14th).

November 15

On November 15, 2018, a low-pressure system brought a rain and snow mix to far eastern Southeast Michigan while all snow occurred elsewhere. Snowfall totals of around 4.5 inches were observed in the Tri-Cities area while a general 1 to 3 inches fell elsewhere.

On November 15, 2005, a third powerful storm hit the area in just a week and a half during November 2005, leading to yet another round of strong winds. The cold front pushed through during the evening, leading to another period of strong winds, occurring through the early morning hours of November 16. Southwest winds were sustained at 25 to 35 mph, gusting to around 50 mph, with the exception of Huron County, where wind gusts estimated near 60 mph. Trees were downed along the lakeshore from Caseville to Grindstone City. Heavy rains also occurred across the region, and the combination of winds and rain led to property damage estimated at 7.2 million dollars. One man was killed (indirect) and another injured (indirect) in a vehicle collision caused by a tree that had fallen into the road in Northern Oakland County due to the strong gusty winds.

On November 15, 2001, a mid-month storm brought winds of 40 and 50 mph and also brought the most rain in a day for the month with nearly 2.30″ in the Detroit area.

Also on November 15, 1997, low pressure tracked across Michigan bringing light snow fell across most of Southern Lower Michigan with accumulations of 1 to 4 inches. However, cold north and northeast winds off of the relatively warmer waters of Lake Huron enhanced the snowfall amounts in eastern Sanilac and northeast St. Clair Counties where accumulations were generally 4 to 8 inches. Port Sanilac received 8 inches of snowfall, but Sheriff Departments reported localized areas of eastern Sanilac county received up to 12 inches.

November 16

On November 16, 1989, a snowstorm hit Flint and Saginaw and it came to an end during the early part of November 17. Saginaw received 8.0 inches of snow while Flint recorded 7.7 inches.

On November 16, 1933, both Detroit and Saginaw had record lows on the 15th and 16th for Detroit and 14th-16th for Saginaw. In Detroit, the temperatures were 10 degrees on the 15th and 8 degrees on the 16th. In Saginaw, temperatures were 11 degrees on the 14th, 7 degrees on the 15th and 5 degrees on the 16th.

Also on November 16, 1932, a snowstorm that started late in the day on November 15 dumped 9.0 inches of snow on Detroit. This is the heaviest snowstorm in the month of November for Detroit.

November 17

On November 17, 2013, a powerful low-pressure system strengthened and tracked northeast across the western Great Lakes. As the cold front swept through the area, winds gusted to 50 to 60 mph during the overnight hours with a peak gust of 70 mph observed at Ypsilanti. The winds produced widespread damage and caused hundreds of thousands of power outages across Southeast Michigan.

Also on November 17, 1963, Genesee county experienced golf ball size hail with a severe thunderstorm passing through.

November 18

On November 18, 2016, unusual late-season Autumn warmth shattered record highs for the date across the region. Detroit reached 73 degrees (breaking the previous record of 69 from 1941) while Flint and Saginaw both reached 71. Their previous records were 69 (1941) and 68 (1975) respectively.

Also on November 18, 1959, there were two days of record lows in Flint with 9 degrees on the 17th and 11 degrees on the 18th.

November 19

On November 19, 1953, this started a two-day streak of record highs in Flint with a temperature of 70 degrees on the 19th and 68 degrees on the 20th.

November 20

On November 20, 1957, an F3 tornado hit Wayne county at 6:50pm resulting in 12 injuries and 1 death and costing $250,000 in damages.


Forecast Discussion

- Low Pressure Brings Rain Today then Snow Showers Thursday

Upper trough amplifying across the Great Lakes region with surface
cyclone tracking across the northern Lakes will bring rain along a
surface cold front today, with heavier QPF, around a quarter to
half inch, across the southern zones.

Cold air and cyclonic flow with inversion heights into the DGZ
about 5 to 10 kft AGL will mean snow showers Thursday but amounts
expected to be an inch or less. Surface and 850 mb temps are
colder than last weekend so the more impressive cold push will
mean a better chance of places seeing snow stick to surfaces, even
though amounts should be light, generally around an inch. Surface
ridging and rising heights should end the snow showers Thursday
night.

- Storm late this weekend with rain followed by snow showers

Upper trough amplifying across southern Canada/Upper Midwest goes
negative tilt and surface low deepens across the central Great
Lakes late in the weekend with period of rain on Sunday followed
by another shot of lake effect snow on Monday. This cold push is
more impressive with 850 mb temps around minus 12C by late Monday
along with saturation through the DGZ, so lake effect snow could
whiten the ground across much of the western half of Lower
Michigan with some 2 to 4 inch totals possible by the time the
thermal trough moves east on Tuesday.
newest oldest
Rocky (Rockford)
Rocky (Rockford)

Wow, every night this week well into next week lows freezing or below! Incredible cold!

Nathan (forest Hills)
Nathan (forest Hills)

Rainy morning. Feels like an early spring day today… I even have a few allergies, probably from mold

Mookie
Mookie

Wow, 55 degrees when I got up!

Rocky (Rockford)
Rocky (Rockford)

Get ready for the cold front!

Slim

The overnight low here was 41 but the temperature has been going up all night and now it is 53 here at my house.
Slim