May 13
1930: Severe thunderstorms produced tornado and downburst damage across eastern Clinton County. Over 30 farms had wind damage and two dozen barns were destroyed. A tornado struck four miles south of St. Johns.
1980: Kalamazoo was hit by a tornado that killed five people and injured 79 others. Fifty million dollars damage was done as the tornado damaged or destroyed nearly 300 homes and over 150 businesses. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grr/science/19800513/
May 14
1886: A tornado injured one person and damaged several homes north of Lansing. The injury occurred as a conductor was blown from a train.
2004: A tornado struck the southeast side of Maple Rapids, destroying a silo and damaging two others. A shed was also damaged. A couple of two by fours were driven into the side of a pole barn. Shingles were damaged and ripped off of two homes.
May 15
1855: A tornado destroys at least one building as it moves from Jackson to Washtenaw County.
1972: A tornado caused minor damage north of Potterville in Eaton County.
May 16
1997: Record low temperatures are set at Grand Rapids and Muskegon with both falling to 29 degrees. This will go in the record books as the coldest May on record at Grand Rapids.
May 17
1962: An early season heat wave sends temperatures into the upper 80s and lower 90s across Lower Michigan. Record highs on this date include the 91 at Grand Rapids, 89 at Lansing and 88 at Muskegon.
May 18
1915: Lansing records their latest measurable snow on record with 0.4 inches, and Grand Rapids does also, with 0.2 inches there.
May 19
1923: A tornado injured two people in Kent County as it moved through rural areas from east of Coopersville to near Sparta.
2002: Snowflakes fly across Lower Michigan as record cold weather prevails. Record lows include the 26 degrees at Lansing, 29 at Muskegon and 30 at Grand Rapids. The freezing temperatures cause heavy losses to orchards across western Lower Michigan.
Dry weather is forecast through the end of the work week with high pressure in place across the Great Lakes region through that time. Skies will vary between mostly clear and partly cloudy through Friday. Highs will push into the 70s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A few spots may even reach the 80 degree mark. The weekend will feature some chances for rain as a couple of systems may track near our area.
Beautiful day today!
What an incredible May we are having. Very warm with tons of sun. I love when summer starts early!
The 10-day GFS continues to look mild, as do the weeklies. Not much to discuss weather wise.