As holiday lights brighten streets and the season of cheer unfolds, Dec. 21 marks the winter solstice a reminder that the longest hours of darkness of the year is upon us. The winter solstice occurs this year on Saturday, Dec. 21 At 4:20 a.m. ET, the solstice will take place, marking “the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
All locations north of the equator see daylight shorter than 12 hours and all locations south see daylight longer than 12 hours. The winter solstices are considered to be the start of the astronomical winter. And the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer. These seasons are based on Earth’s natural rotation. In contrast, meteorological seasons divide the year into three-month groups based on temperature patterns, making them more closely aligned with our monthly civil calendar than astronomical seasons.
After the solstice, every day will have a little more sunlight than the one before. By the time we reach the summer solstice on June 20, 2025, it will be the longest day of the year.
The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 30/23 there was 4.2” of snowfall melted down to 0.16” of precipitation. There was 4% of possible sunshine. The highest wind speed was 26 MPH out of the N For today the average H/L is 35/24 the record high of 60 was in 1967 the coldest high of 5 was in 1989 the record low of -8 was also in 1989 the warmest low of 47 was in 1918. The most rainfall of 1.26” was in 1949 the most snowfall of 7.9” was in 2008 the most on the ground was 15” in 1951.
We now have 20 days of December 2024 in the record books and the mean so far is 30.2 that is a departure of -1.5 the high so far is 50 on the 8th 9th and 14th the lowest 10 on the 12th and 14th there has been 1.58” of precipitation and 19.6” of snowfall.
While there is snow on the ground at this time there remains some doubt if there is enough snow to last for a White Christmas.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
338 AM EST SAT DEC 21 2024
KEY MESSAGES
– LIGHT LAKE EFFECT SNOW WINDS DOWN TODAY
– MONDAY SYSTEM TO BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN
– LOW CONFIDENCE MID/LAKE WEEK WITH REGARD TO PRECIPITATION
CHANCES
DISCUSSION
ISSUED AT 337 AM EST SAT DEC 21 2024
– LIGHT LAKE EFFECT SNOW WINDS DOWN TODAY
NORTHERLY FLOW LAKE EFFECT IS ONGOING AT THIS TIME WITH A
CONNECTION TO LAKE SUPERIOR. DELTA T’S ARE TOWARDS 20C MAKING FOR
SOLID INSTABILITY. SO, BOTH FETCH LENGTH AND INSTABILITY ARE
FAVORABLE FOR LAKE EFFECT SNOW. THE ISSUE IS MOISTURE DEPTH IS
VERY SHALLOW WHICH LIMITS FLAKE SIZE AND ACCUMULATION. WINDS WILL
REMAIN OUT OF A NORTH-NORTHWEST DIRECTION WHICH FAVORS OUR
LAKESHORE COUNTIES AS WELL AS SOME OF THE U.S. 10 CORRIDOR. WINDS
WILL BE WEAKENING THOUGH AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE DAY AT THE SAME
TIME MOISTURE DEPTH BECOMES MORE SHALLOW. WE EXPECT LAKE EFFECT TO
CONTINUE THIS MORNING AND GRADUALLY TAPER THIS AFTERNOON GIVEN
WEAKER WINDS IN THE CLOUD LAYER AND THE DECREASING MOISTURE DEPTH.
EXPECTING LIGHT SNOW IN THE AFOREMENTIONED AREAS ON THE ORDER OF
A TRACE TO A HALF INCH. AN ISOLATED INCH OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE WHERE
BANDS PERSIST THIS MORNING.
– MONDAY SYSTEM TO BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN
MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT IN BRINGING A SURFACE LOW OUR
DIRECTION FROM THE PLAINS STATES SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. SUNDAY
NIGHT SHOULD BE MAINLY DRY WITH PRECIPITATION OCCURRING MAINLY
MONDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE OF A WARM AIR
ADVECTION VARIETY AHEAD OF THE SURFACE LOW AND IT’S ASSOCIATED MID
LEVEL SHORTWAVE. AN INCH OR TWO OF LIGHT SNOW LOOKS POSSIBLE UP
TOWARDS U.S. 10 WITH EVEN LIGHTER AMOUNTS ELSEWHERE. SOME RAIN
WILL MIX IN MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING
– LOW CONFIDENCE MID/LAKE WEEK WITH REGARD TO PRECIPITATION
CHANCES
A DRY DAY IS EXPECTED ON TUESDAY BEFORE LIGHT PRECIPITATION IS
STRUNG OUT IN THE FORECAST FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
CONFIDENCE IS LOW IN THE PRECIPITATION CHANCES GIVEN DISPARITY IN
THE MAIN FEATURES IN PLAY BOTH IN TIME AND SPACE. THE GFS BRINGS A
SHORTWAVE INTO THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEK WHEREAS THE ECMWF HAS
RIDGING. OUR FORECAST IS A COMPROMISE OF THE TWO MAIN GLOBAL
MODELS WITH A LOT OF LOW CHANCE POPS IN THE 20-40 PCT RANGE DURING
THIS TIME FRAME.
WE WARM UP WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY WITH 850MB TEMPERATURES GOING
ABOVE ZERO C ON TUESDAY. PRECIPITATION TYPE IS MAINLY RAIN MID TO
LATE WEEK WHICH WILL MEAN A CONTINUED EROSION OF WHAT LITTLE SNOW
PACK THAT IS IN PLACE.
Detailed Forecast For Grand Rapids
Today
Mostly sunny, with a steady temperature around 22. North wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 11. Light and variable wind becoming east northeast around 5 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. South wind 5 to 8 mph.
Sunday Night
Increasing clouds, with a low around 23. South southeast wind around 7 mph.
Monday
Snow showers likely before 1pm, then rain and snow showers. High near 36. South wind around 9 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday Night
Showers before 7pm. Low around 28. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Christmas Day
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.
Thursday
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41.
Thursday Night
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.
Friday
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44.
Get ready! January = near normal temps and above normal precip = SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!!!
Here are some snowfall totals so far this season in Michigan. Northern lower Alpena 15.9”. Houghton Lake 21.2. Traverse City 48.4. Petoskey 45.3. Upper Michigan Sault Ste. Marie 74.4 Marquette 39.8. Herman 72.0. Ironwood 37.6. Southwest Michigan Grand Rapids 30.9. Muskegon 21.5. Lansing 11.9 . Southeast Michigan Detroit 4.8. Flint 9.6. Saginaw 4.2. As you can see most of the snow has been lake effect.
Slim
31 inches of snow already! Well above normal for the season and the month! Incredible!
That is what is being reported as the “official” snowfall so far this winter. But that said the way it as came and then melted it sure don’t seem like there has been that much. The 9.2″ that was reported on 11/29 was mostly in the southern part of Kent County and here in MBY was just over 5″
Slim
Heading North for a great weekend of skiing! Who wouldn’t want Cold and SNOW in the winter in MI? Rock n Roll will live forever! WOW!!!!!!!