Weather History – 4/8

1938: A snowstorm drops several inches of snow across southern Lower Michigan. Lansing sets a record for the day with 5.1 inches and Grand Rapids with 4.3 inches.

1947: Three to five inches of rain and warmer temperatures combine with melting snowpack and partially frozen ground to cause some disastrous flooding along the Grand and Kalamazoo Rivers. Millions of dollars of damage occur as large sections of Grand Rapids, including the Comstock Park area, are under several feet of water.

2016: A spring snowstorm drops 4 to 6 inches of snow from Grand Rapids to Lansing. A total of close to 10 inches of snow fell at Grand Rapids during a wintry first week of April.

On April 8, 1980, Wayne County was hit by an F1 tornado at 7:15 PM.
On a temperature note, a high of 79 on this date in 2001 broke a 130-year-old high temperature record /76-1871/.

Forecast Discussion

Partly cloudy and cold today with temperatures holding in the 30s for highs. Normal highs are in the lower to middle 50s. A clipper system moving through the Southern Great Lakes on Wednesday will bring some rain and snow to the area with accumulating light snow possible along and south of I-96. Accumulations of an inch or two of wet snow are possible on Wednesday near I-94.

- Flurries today, chilly

Conditions remain favorable for lake effect snow showers today.
Regional radar shows flurries/light snow showers moving south
within the north flow. Moisture depth isn`t significant, but h8
temps near -14c will create sufficient over-lake instability for
snow showers today. HRRR also shows a decent diurnal flareup east
of US-131 this afternoon on the back side of the departing upper
trough. The snow showers will diminish by late afternoon;
little if any accumulations are expected. Highs today will top out
in the mid to upper 30s.


- Rain/snow Wednesday/Thursday

Confidence is fairly high that we`re going to see low pressure
develop ahead of a short wave moving into the Great Lakes. This
low has been in the models for many days with little change in
strength nor position. The amount of cold air entrained into the
system is the ingredient that changes a little from run to run.

This system will primarily affect the southern half of the cwa
with mixed rain and snow. If the colder GFS is correct, a slushy
inch or snow is possible over the southern/southeast cwa Wednesday
evening. Otherwise a trace to a half inch seems possible, mainly
on vegetative surfaces south of I-96.

The precipitation will wind down Thursday morning as mainly light
rain. Highs Wednesday and Thursday will be in the lower to mid
40s

- Warmer weekend

Friday through Sunday will be dry and warmer as ridging moves over
the region. Temperatures will finally warm up into the 50s Friday
and Saturday and into the mid 60s Sunday; we`ll make a run at 70
degrees by Monday.