Thanks to Slim for filling in for me. My mother-in-law passed away on Sunday at the age of 94, the last of the ‘greatest generation’ in our family. Thanks for the condolences and prayers.
The wind is howling this morning thus the wind warnings and advisories. Our high temp for yesterday was 61° and a low of 45°. We are currently at 64° at 6 am!
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central and southwest Michigan. * WHEN...Until 4 PM EST this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Southwest winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central, southwest and west central Michigan. * WHEN...Until 4 PM EST this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds will be during the early morning hours before daybreak.
From Bill & Ellen
- https://www.woodtv.com/weather/weather-news/incoming-storm-stronger-than-the-one-that-sunk-the-ss-edmund-fitzgerald/
- https://www.woodtv.com/weather/bills-blog/moderate-risk-of-tornadoes-and-severe-thunderstorms/
Weather History for SW Michigan
December 12
1949: Balmy weather continues. For the second day in a row, temperatures set record highs at Grand Rapids and Lansing.
1958: Arctic air continues across Lower Michigan. Record cold temperatures include 5 below zero at both Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
December 13
1920: Mild weather prevails across Lower Michigan with record highs in the upper 50s.
1973: A snowstorm drops about 8 inches of snow from Grand Rapids to Lansing.
December 14
1907: A snowstorm moves across Lower Michigan, dropping from 5 to 8 inches of snow.
1975: Record warmth continues for the second day across Lower Michigan. Morning lows in the upper 40s are followed by high temperatures near 60 degrees.
December 15
1971: For the second time in 5 days, record high temperatures are followed by record rains. The temperature hits 60 at Grand Rapids and 64 degrees at Lansing followed by about 2 inches of rain.
1987: A winter storm drops from 8 to 12 inches of snow from Grand Haven to Ludington. Muskegon sets a daily snowfall record of 12.1 inches of snow.
December 16
1984: Mild weather prevails with record highs of 61 degrees at Lansing and Grand Rapids.
1989: Persistent cold weather continues during the coldest December on record in Lower Michigan. A record low of 2 below zero is recorded at Grand Rapids while another 5 inches of snow piles up at Muskegon, contributing to a monthly total of 77 inches there.
December 17
1963: Lake effect snow buries Muskegon with a three-day total of 34 inches of snow from the 16th to the 18th. This will be the snowiest December in Muskegon history with a grand total of 82.6 inches for the month.
December 18
1884: Temperatures plunge well below zero during a three-day cold wave. Lansing records an all-time December low of 25 below zero.
1939: Mild weather continues for the second consecutive day with highs in the 50s and overnight lows remaining above freezing.
Weather History for SE Michigan
December 12
On December 12, 2016, a snow storm wrapped up in the early morning hours after snowing for much of the previous day. Snow measurements across Southeast Michigan generally ranged from 8 to 11 inches. NWS White Lake measured 11.3 inches and Flint 10.4 making it their 9th and 15th largest single-event snow accumulations on record respectively.
Also on December 12, 2010, low pressure tracked near the Michigan/Ohio border and then northeast into Ontario. Precipitation started as rain before changing to snow. Snowfall accumulations across southeast Michigan were generally in the 3 to 7 inch range before Arctic air rushed into the region. The quick freeze created a thick accumulation of ice on many of the area roads. In addition, gusty winds of 25 to 40 mph occurred during Sunday afternoon lead to scattered power outages. Some of the higher snowfall reports included Bad Axe with 15 inches, Yale 9 inches, White Lake 7.7 inches, Clifford 7 inches, Midland 7 inches, Riverview 6.4 inches, Howell 6.3 inches.
Also on December 12, 1949, the record high temperature for the day was set at 61 degrees in Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw simultaneously! This is 27 degrees above average.
December 13
On December 13, 2017, a clipper rapidly strengthened upon approaching the area and brought significant snow accumulations. With calm winds and perfect temperatures, the environment was pristine for classic snow dendrites and efficient accumulation rates. A wide swath of 6 to 9 inches was observed along a northwest-to-southeast line from the Saginaw Valley into Detroit.
Also on December 13, 2010, additional lake effect snow fell in the wake of the previous day snowstorm across the Thumb region. Storm totals reached 15 inches at Bad Axe and an estimated 20+ inches near the Lake Huron shoreline in Huron County. Wind gusts to 50 mph were reported across the northern Thumb region and created snow drifts in excess of 10 feet is some locations. The snow and blowing snow lead to Blizzard conditions over Huron and Sanilac counties, which stranded at least two dozen cars.
Also on December 13, 1878, this day marks the first day of a streak of 38 days (December 13, 1878-January 20 1879) of temperatures at or below 32 degrees in southeastern Michigan!
December 14
On December 14, 1975, the daytime temperature rose to 65 degrees in Detroit, which is nearly 30 degrees above average!
December 15
On December 15, 1933, a high temperature of 61.2 degrees was recorded. This was a record high for this date in Detroit.
December 16
On December 16, 2007 a deepening storm center moved toward the lower Great Lakes and brought widespread heavy amounts of snow. Snowfall ranged from generally 6 to 10 inches throughout much of Southeast Lower Michigan. Strong gusty winds of 35 to 45 mph created 1 to 3 foot drifts with near blizzard conditions across much of Southeast Lower Michigan. Blizzard conditions were reported across the eastern Thumb Region from the late morning through much of the afternoon, mainly along M-25 near the Lake Huron shoreline.
On December 16, 1998, a trace of snow fell at Detroit. While a trace of snowfall is not usually a significant event in the middle of December, this was the first trace of snowfall for the 1998-1999 winter season, making this date the latest observed first snowfall.
Also on December 16, 1951, the temperature dropped to a record low of -11 degrees in the city of Saginaw for the day. The very next day, Saginaw reached another record low: -5 degrees.
December 17
On December 17, 1876, the daytime temperature rose to only 10 degrees in Detroit, which is 25 degrees below average!
December 18
On December 18, 1951, Flint had a record low of -3 degrees. This day was part of a 4 day streak of record lows. The 16th and 17th had record lows of -6 degrees and -7 degrees, and the 19th had a record low of -11 degrees.
Forecast Discussion
Sub-980 mb low over western Lake Superior continues to deepen as it treks toward northeast Ontario this morning. The core of the low-level jet is overhead early this morning, and 50 to 70 knot winds are just a couple thousand feet above the surface. The strongest winds (and greatest concentration of power outages so far) have been where models have signaled, mainly west and north of Grand Rapids. The worst impacts will likely be through the early morning hours there. During the day, cold air advection and deeper mixing will spread the wind gusts farther east, and max gusts will slowly begin to subside during the afternoon as the jet core departs. A plume of slightly reduced visibility and moderately unhealthy air quality (airnow.gov) is being reported in the dry slot in Wisconsin and Illinois. This is mostly dust and a little smoke picked up yesterday from the Central High Plains. This may carry into western/northwest Michigan this morning, though how noticeable it will be is uncertain. After this tremendous Midwest weather event is over, we will return to more normal temperatures and quieter conditions going into much of next week. Light snow will be possible on Saturday with the next upper level trough as a surface low develops to our south.
added a bunch of weather-related links on the main page where the radar and point forecasts live…
Temp has dropped to 38 after a high of 64 at 6 am
The updated CPC long range guess for the rest of the winter is now leaning toward a warmer/wetter weather pattern. Here is the December guess
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead14/index.php
And the JFM guess
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1
Slim
That looks like above average snowfall to me! Fantastic news! Bring it on!
Didn’t that CPC show no chance of a white Christmas to?? InDY
The front is taking it’s sweet time coming across the state. Still sunny and 55 (for the moment) here.
Just checked the latest wind gusts up north in the Warning area and for the most part, they are stronger down here. Go figure.
Current wind chill is 26 degrees! Incredible cold!
Went to work this morning with no coat on leaving work this afternoon with the Wintet coat back on only in Michigan we new the warm spring like temlps wouldn’t last ….InDY..
What, it feels like winter? Who would have thought? Bring on the SNOW!
Im dreaming of a white Christmas woo woo! InDY
Wow, our snow chance really pick by the middle/end of next week! Could it be a white Christmas? Stay tuned for later updates!
Wow back to back record highs in the 60’s in mid December!
Well no power outage this time and no trees down! Only casualty was my dads 16 foot tall lighthouse that blew over and smashed to pieces.
UGH Barry…that’s a bummer!!!
The official high of 62 was reached at 10 PM last night that is a new record high for Grand Rapids for December 15th Than overnight a reading of 63 was recorded at 4 and 5 AM and that is the new record high for December 16th New highs were also set at Muskegon for both the 15th and 16th and at Lansing the high yesterday fell just 1° short of the record but a new record has been set for today. The cold front has now gone thru and the temperature here at my house has now dropped down… Read more »
I guess the Gales of November came late this year. Wow, it is windy (AGAIN)!
It looks like our snow chances will start trending up around Christmas time!
https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php?p=snku_acc&fh=384