Weather History & Forecast – 4/21

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Weather History

1923: A tornado struck three miles west of Scottville in Mason County. It destroyed an unoccupied home and carried pieces of it over a mile.

1967: A tornado outbreak hits from Missouri to Michigan, killing 58 people. The worst of the damage was in northern Illinois, where dozens of people were killed in Belvidere and Oak Lawn. At least seven tornadoes hit Michigan, injuring more than 50 people and destroying dozens of homes. A tornado moved across the southern outskirts of Grand Rapids, doing heavy damage. Thirty-two people were injured and a total of 65 buildings were destroyed and another 60 heavily damaged. Another tornado injured eight people and killed 34 sheep as it moved from Westphalia to the south edge of Fowler in Clinton County.

2013: Heavy spring rains caused severe flooding. The Grand River crested at 21.85 feet in downtown Grand Rapids on the 22nd, with fish being photographed from the submerged windows of buildings along the river.

On April 21, 1976, an F2 tornado moved through Shiawassee County at 3:35 PM. This tornado was one of the most damaging tornadoes in Shiawassee County since 1950 and caused 1 injury and over $500,000 in damage.

Forecast Discussion

Today’s rainfall will be done by mid or late morning, then 30 to 40 mph gusts are expected the rest of the day. Temperatures will climb to 55 to 65 degrees across Lower Michigan during the morning, then drop about 10 degrees during the afternoon.

- Windy With Morning Showers Monday

Isolated showers and storms have developed over the region this
morning with more widespread precipitation and scattered storms
arriving shortly. A low pressure system moving into Wisconsin
today is the driver of our precipitation, with a cold front
crossing the area this morning bringing the more widespread
precipitation. Satellite shows a pronounced dry slot behind this
front that will keep the afternoon dry. Increased mixing behind
the front will lead to 30 to 40 mph gusts Monday as well.

- Several Chances For Showers Mid to Late Week

Our next chance of rain is Tuesday Night into Wednesday as we see a
warm frontal boundary lift north through lower Michigan. What
follows is quasi-zonal flow with small embedded shortwaves. Periods
of showers cannot be ruled out Wednesday/Thursday, but these setups
feature low predictability so timing, occurrence, and placement
of showers is not certain.

Rain chances increase again Thursday Night into Friday as a low
pressure system moves into the midwest. This will bring the
potential for both showers and thunderstorms into the region.
Conditions then dry out for the weekend as high pressure and ridging
move into the Upper Great Lakes.

- Late Week Warmup Expected

Highs are expected to climb into the 60s through Wednesday and well
into the 70s Thursday and Friday as ridging arrives. Some cooling is
expected behind the late week system, but it only drop highs into
the 60s for the weekend.