Warmest/Coldest
This April so far has been on the cool and wet side, it will not end up as either the coldest or warmest April of record so far at Grand Rapids However, I thought I would look at the warmest and coldest Aprils in Grand Rapids history this week. The warmest April at Grand Rapids happened way back in 1915 with a mean of 53.3 the 2nd warmest was in 2010 with a mean of 53.7. Honorable mention is given to 2017 coming in at 7th place with a mean of 51.9. On the cold side you have to go way back to 1907 with a mean of just 37.6 for the coldest. The 2nd coldest was in 1950 with a mean of 39.6. Honorable mention goes to 2018 with a mean of 40.1 and in 4th place. Last year April had a mean of 48.5 and that was a departure of +0.9.
In looking closer at the warmest April’s at Grand Rapids 1915. After a cold March that ended up -4.3 below average. That April started out on the cool side but warmed up on the 5th but it was the period between April 18th to the 28th that stands out. In that 10 day span there were 4 days in the 70’s and 5 days in the 80’s the highest was 88 on the 26th there were two days of highs at 86 and on two nights the low was just 66. With a mean of 58.8 that April had a departure of +6.2. After April the rest of the warm season in 1915 was very cool.
The 2nd warmest April was in 2010 and in that year March ended on a warm note with a high of 78 on the 31st and that carried over into the start of April when highs reached 82 and 83 on the 1st and 2nd That April had 7 days in a row of well above average temperature at the start of the month with departures of +25.3 and 27.4 on the 1st and 2nd That April had 4 days in the 80’s and 4 more days in the 70’s. The departure that April at Grand Rapids was +6.1. For the honorable mention year of 2017 That April had 2 days in the 80’s and a total of 6 more days in the 70’s.
Now on to the coldest April’s in Grand Rapids. In 1907 March was kind of on the mild side and there were 3 days in the 70’s and 5 more days in the 60’s That changed when the calendar flipped to April with the 1st seeing a H/L of 36/19. After a couple of mild days things took a turn to much colder starting on the 5th as that was the start of 22 days in a row of below average temperatures with 15 of them being double digit below average. During that time there were 11 days with highs only in the 30’s 13 nights with lows in the 20’s To add insult there was 2.1” of snow fall on April 30th The departure that April was -10.0. May was also cold and June, July, August and September were all below average. The 2nd coldest April was in 1950 and that came after a cold March. April 1950 was just cool throughout with just 5 days above average all month. The 13th had a high of only 28 and a low of 18. While most of the days were in the 40’s and 50’s there were 2 nights with lows in the teens and 11 more nights with lows in the 20’s several in the low 20’s. That April had a departure of -8.0. The honorable mention year of 2018 had a cold start with 11 days below average at the start. Then a 1 day warm up then 10 days below average. April 2018 had 6.0” of snow fall and the month had a departure of -7.5. Summer did come early with a very warm May +5.6 June, July and August were also above average.
Since weather records have been taken here in Grand Rapids Easter has only been on April 17, 3 times. 1927, 1938 and 1960. This year will be the 4th year that Easter has been on the April 17th Of the days that Easter has been on the 17th in 1927 the H/L was 81/53 in 1938 it was 64/55 and in 1960 the H/L was 63/33. This year will be the coldest Easter Sunday on April 17th
Slim
Bring it!
http://wxcaster.com/gis-gfs-snow-overlays.php?STATIONID=GRR
I like the sounds of a nice warmup after the extended cold. Bring it! From the NWS: Meanwhile the ECMWF and even more so the Canadian indicate that upper low over the SW CONUS will not kick out like the GFS forecasts it too. That puts a large upper ridge over the eastern CONUS into the following week. There are a significant number of the ECMWF ensembles that have highs on the 80s for Sat/Sun. The Canadian has some highs near 90!. Meanwhile the GFS has NO members with highs more than the mid 70s. We will have to wait… Read more »
Fine with me as long as no temps in the 80’s! Give me upper 60’s to lower 70’s with low humidity!
33 degrees outside will it even make 35 degrees today in my hood probably one of the coldest April 16 ever wow …InDY
Incredible Mid April cold! Tonight down into the lower 20’s! Wow, just wow!
Watching a video of practice at Berlin raceway people there have winter hats on winter coats on …Crazy…InDY
Bring on the snow!
https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php?m=ecmwf_full&p=sn10_acc&rh=2022041612&fh=84
Seeing lots of pictures from Traverse city this morning with snow fallen what a beautiful day in the middle of April….hey check this out April snow showers brings May sunflowers lol..InDY
Like i have said a million times I really dont start enjoying the real warmth in western Michigan untill May and we are closer but no cigar..More snow coming Monday yes this is something to definitely post on a weather blog about!! Snow is weather lol….INDY
Incredible cold and snow for mid April!
Thanks Slim. Feels good to have something normal in reading the posts here. I will say we are thankful for the cooler temps as we try and salvage what we can. Can’t imagine if was 80 degrees with thousands of pounds of rotting food. That would be really bad.
That stinks, Barry. I’ve kept you and your family in my prayers. It must be difficult to keep your chin up at this point, but things will get better. Hang in there, bro.
Thanks Mark. Appreciate it a ton!
That was a real kick in the behind. I hope everything works out for you.
Slim
Thanks Slim. It was a good day. Lot of our employees came out, got several large pieces of equipment recovered and a lot of other stuff.
Yesterdays official high at Grand Rapids was 45 and the official overnight low was 30. The overnight low here in MBY was a colder 26. At the current time it is mostly cloudy here and 32. Yes it has been cold the last few days but it is not unusual for it to be this cold in mid April. Now that said if the forecasted high today of near 40 pans out it will be one of the coldest maximums for this date but then again the high last year on April 16 was just 40 and in 2018 the… Read more »
Golf anyone? A deep freeze in mid April!
Like you say in the middle of winter, you can do anything outside as long as you dress appropriately. 🙂
Great weather to grab a ice cream cone with a winter coat on no worries about it melting….InDY
Good point!
Golf is a warm weather sport, so it does not matter how you dress, golf with the wind chills below freezing is absolutely nuts!
Bring on the snow! What an incredible cold pattern! Lows below freezing multiple nights in a row along with snowfall chances! Wow!
https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php?m=ecmwf_full&p=sn10_acc&rh=2022041600&fh=120
After this weeks cold it looks to warm up by next weekend and there should be some great spring like weather then.
Slim
Sounds good to me and a full 2 months after the warm weather nuts were calling for a blow torch warm up and winter ending! Better late than never!
Always fake news yesr in year out lol…InDY