This week we are and will be seeing the whole gamet of weather Michigan has to offer – just as in the past we can see record highs and lows for this time of year with anything from snow to thunderstorms. Every Wednesday I bring some weather history into the blog so we can compare what happened and what is going on now:
April 7
1954: A tornado destroyed two barns and damaged a house and apartment building near Fulton in Kalamazoo County.
1982: Temperatures plunge to near zero as arctic high pressure persists over the Great Lakes states. Lansing falls to 2 below zero for a record low for the date and the latest sub-zero temperature on record. Muskegon falls to one degree above zero and Grand Rapids to 3 above for their coldest April temperatures on record.
April 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.
April 9
1969: A brief tornado damaged a house near Loomis in Isabella County.
1973: A snowstorm dumps 3 to 8 inches of snow across much of Lower Michigan. Record snowfall for the date includes the 6.5 inches at Muskegon, 5.2 inches at Lansing and 4.4 inches at Grand Rapids.
2008: A tornado hit from near Plainwell in Allegan County to Doster in Barry County at 1:40 a.m. It did significant damage to a horse barn, lifted a trailer adjacent to the barn, damaged gravel yard equipment, lifted a tank, and uprooted numerous large trees.
This is one which formed over Otsego and intensified when it got to Plainwell forming a tornado when it got to Doster.
April 10
1977: A three day spell of 80 degree temperatures begins across Lower Michigan. Record highs include the 81 degrees at Lansing, where temperatures would hit records of 82 degrees on the 11th and 83 on the 12th.
April 11
1965: The second worst tornado outbreak in United States history struck from Iowa to Ohio, killing 256 people. In Michigan, the worst damage is near the Indiana state line as two violent tornadoes moved on parallel tracks about a half hour apart, killing 44 people and injuring hundreds. A tornado struck northwest of Grand Rapids, killing five people in Comstock Park. One person was killed by a tornado that moved from near Dewitt in Clinton County to Bennington in Shiawassee County.
2001: Severe thunderstorms produced large hail, flash flooding, and two weak tornadoes. The tornadoes briefly moved through rural areas near Coopersville in Ottawa County and Cloverville in Muskegon County.
April 12
1972: A tornado put down an intermittent damage path about four miles long southeast of Ludington in Mason County. A barn was destroyed, but there were no injuries.
1974: A tornado brief tornado damaged a building in Vicksburg in Kalamazoo County.
2014: Severe downbursts with winds over 80 mph struck from near Muskegon to Big Rapids. Damage to trees was widespread along with some structural damage. Heavy rains and melting snow resulted in severe flooding along the Muskegon and Pere Marquette Rivers following the storms.
April 13
1941: Temperatures reach the 80s across Lower Michigan. Record highs set on this date include 87 degrees at Detroit, 82 at Lansing and 80 at Grand Rapids.
1950: High temperatures struggle to reach the mid and upper 20s across Lower Michigan after morning lows in the teens. At Lansing the high temperature is only 24 degrees after a morning low of 17.
Winter Weather Advisory 9pm tonight through 10 am Thursday
Now lets take a look at the present with the system moving in for today through Friday. First is the futurecast the second is total liquid precipitation which is around an inch for a good portion of the area.
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Next are the precip type and the total snow accumulation (look at the totals for west of us)!
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The winter weather advisory covers Oceana, Newaygo, Muskegon, Montcalm, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Allegan, Barry and Eaton counties.
Mixed wintry precipitation expected. Rain developing this evening and changing to wet snow by midnight. Slushy snow accumulations of one to two inches and ice accumulations of a light glaze expected by daybreak Thursday. East winds gusting over 30 mph with temperatures falling into the lower 30s.
Our grass is covered with snow now and it’s still snowing out at thee YARDofBRICKS NE GR …INDY!
Praise The Lord, that I do not live in Pierre, SD!!! I cannot think of anything more awful than this forecast!!
https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/point/44.37,-100.32
So far, this April has (it has only been 9 days in the record books) nothing out of the ordinary, to put things in prospective. The total snow fall this month has been just a trace and there have been many Aprils in the past with just a trace of snow fall and only 2 were there was no snow fall. The coldest so far has been 19° well there have been 23 Aprils since 1918 that have gotten below 20 so no big deal there. The warmest so far this month is 74° well going back to 1918 there have only been 2 years were so nothing new there either. So all in all just a typical April in southern Michigan.
Slim
Matt Kirkwood has his Winter coat on is it that cold outside? Lol…INDY!
It sure is colder than the last few days. It is only temporary right? LOL!!
I going out for my walk and I will have my winter coat on as well. If it is cold out I well ware a coat no matter the time of year. Just like if it were in the 80’s I would have my shorts on. One only calls that common sense LOL
Slim
38* degrees out at thee YARDofBRICKS NE GR nother chilly Spring day …INDY!
We’ve only had two below average days so far in April.
Make that 3 now lol …INDY
I browse through a lot of independent weather sites and have found most have a lot of broken links or are rarely updated – the GRR NWS really needs to go through their web pages and update them – looking at other NWS state sites GRR is sadly behind the game 🙁
This is another reason I am continuing to build this site – I do this myself, so why can’t a government organization with lots of tax payers money create a nice user friendly site which is up to date? Thus ends my rant for today….
Their site definitely is not user friendly.
NWS calling for maybe 1-2″ of slushy snow that will quickly melt, near 60 degrees on Friday, and then mostly rain for Sunday/Monday before temps warm up again.
Not bad at all for supposedly a “huge cooldown.”
60* degrees between 2am and 4am early Friday morning dont forgot your flashlight for your picnic.. INDY!!
A whole inch or two overnight… better get out your shovel and snowshoes! LOL
April is now +4.1 degrees above average.
With temps in the 30’s and 40’s the next 6 or 7 days I’m thinking that +2.5 above normal is about to go -2.5 or lower for Mid April! INDY!
Eh….it’s not going to be that bad INDY.
https://media.woodtv.com/nxs-woodtv-media-us-east-1/weather/maps/8forecast_640x480.jpg
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USMI0344:1:US
Send them 40’s packing it’s mid April lol..INDY!
Bring on the cold and SNOW!!!!
One last ski trip. Cross country on the golf course. Have fun!!