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Welcome to August!

We now begin the last month of met summer with a more rapid loss of daylight as we progress through August.

We had 3.79 inches of rain in July and 12.79 inches for the summer thus far (in Otsego).

Sunrise is 6:35 today and sunset is 9:02 pm.  We have a loss of two minutes per day of daylight this week, By the end of the month the sunrise/sunset times are 7:07 am and 8:20 pm.  Our grandkids start school in a couple of weeks (August 16th from what I am told), which seems early this year.  With Covid messing up last school year maybe they want to get a jump on in-class learning.

We don’t have a big expectation of rain today west of US 131, though chances are greater further east especially in the Detroit area on up into Bad Axe.  It appears this week will be dry with high pressure dominating the state.  North winds will be a little gusty today and will create dangerously large waves and strong currents at Lake Michigan beaches. Calmer weather and wave conditions are expected Monday through Thursday.


Forecast Discussion:

- Life-threatening waves and currents at Lake Michigan beaches today

Wave heights will increase quickly after sunrise, building between 3
and 6 feet by late morning. The large waves and strong currents will
make swimming dangerous at West Michigan beaches south of Manistee.
Conditions will be especially rough on the north sides of piers.
Most drownings in the Great Lakes occur when waves are between 3 and
6 feet. The large waves will diminish steadily after sunset, and
expected to only be about a foot high on Monday.

- Few showers and thunderstorms redevelop today

Showers and thunderstorms that developed ahead of a surface trough
dropping through the area were close to exiting the CWA at 3 AM. We
likely saw wind gusts 40-50 mph from these storms prior to 1 AM, but
storms weakened quickly after that. Cold front/northerly wind shift
will continue to work southward through Lower Michigan early this
morning, and we could see a few more showers before it passes
through.

Additional showers, and even a few thunderstorms, are expected
across Lower Michigan today, with the highest coverage expected
during the afternoon and early evening. Upper trough will pivot down
through the area adding forcing, while lapse rates steepen as upper
cold pool passes overhead during peak (surface) heating. The coldest
air aloft will pass just to our east, and should provide a better
coverage of showers/storms over the eastern part of the State.
Forecast soundings actually show a fairly low potential for rain in
Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, as we see drier air arrive and thermal
recovery in the mid-levels right as the lapse rates really start to
steepen during the afternoon. Any thunderstorms that do form will
have a higher than normal chance to produce small hail, as freezing
levels dip just below 10 kft.

- Refreshing with below normal temperatures early this week, then
warming

High temperatures in the 70s and dewpoints in the 50s (not humid)
will continue our stretch of refreshing weather through Tuesday.
Normal high temperatures for early August are in the low 80s. Upper
troughing responsible for the cooler temperatures will shift out of
the area for the second half of the week, with highs warming back
into the mid 80s Thursday through Saturday. Dewpoints and humidity
will also come up noticeable by Saturday.

- Mainly dry for the upcoming work week

Beyond today, the forecast looks mainly dry as surface ridging
becomes more dominant.
newest oldest
INDY
INDY

Ahhhh currently 72* degrees in my area does it get any better the this weather wise heck no!!!! Gone Fishing!! INDY

Nathan (forest Hills)
Nathan (forest Hills)

The afternoon afd is probably the shortest I have ever seen… which is probably a good thing. Looks like a great week weatherwise!

Barry in Zeeland
Barry in Zeeland

Way better feeling air than what we’ve had for the past month or so, but looks to only last a couple days. Last lines of the forecast discussion have the heat and humidity building back in by mid week. CPC outlooks also have us in the bright red coming up. Get ready for the dog days of Summer. 👎

Slim

Welcome to August 2021. A quick look back at July 2021 and here at Grand Rapids the mean temperature was 72.3 that is a departure of -0.5. the high for the month was 89 and happened on 7 days. The low for the month was 53 on the 31st This past July was the coolest one since July of 2015. There was a total of 4.44″ of rain fall. That is above the average of 3.86. The over night low here at my house was 59 and it looks like the official overnight low at GRR was 60. I recorded… Read more »