April 2018 Observations and Discussion

[Niko]

Looks like Winter outside. Brrr.

[westMJim]

We are just over the half way point in April 2018 and with the recent snow fall I thought it would be a good time to update the seasonal totals from a few locations around Michigan. But before that here is some interesting temperature facts for April so far. At Alpena the warmest it has gotten this month is jist 46° that is a departure of -10.6° and At the Sault the warmest so far this month is just 42° and that is a departure of -9.7° and at Marquette there warmest is just 45° and their departure is -12.5° (note here at Grand Rapids the departure at this time is -10.6°) Now on the total seasonal snow fall amounts so far.

The UP

Marquette 164.3”

Sault Ste Marie  118.4”

Northern Lower

Gaylord  132.3”

Petoskey  121.5”

Traverse City   116.5”

Alpena 73.9”

Houghton Lake 52.4”

Southern Lower

Muskegon  102.6”

Flint  84.5”

Grand Rapids 75.5”

Detroit 60.0”

Lansing 52.5”

Saginaw  41.4”

[Niko]

We are just over the half way point in April 2018 and with the recent snow fall I thought it would be a good time to update the seasonal totals from a few locations around Michigan. But before that here is some interesting temperature facts for April so far. At Alpena the warmest it has gotten this month is jist 46° that is a departure of -10.6° and At the Sault the warmest so far this month is just 42° and that is a departure of -9.7° and at Marquette there warmest is just 45° and their departure is -12.5° (note here at Grand Rapids the departure at this time is -10.6°) Now on the total seasonal snow fall amounts so far.

The UP

Marquette 164.3”

Sault Ste Marie  118.4”

Northern Lower

Gaylord  132.3”

Petoskey  121.5”

Traverse City   116.5”

Alpena 73.9”

Houghton Lake 52.4”

Southern Lower

Muskegon  102.6”

Flint  84.5”

Grand Rapids 75.5”

Detroit 60.0”

Lansing 52.5”

Saginaw  41.4”

I might get an inch tonight, so that could change to 61". Cannot believe we are still talking about snowfall tally's. If feels like such a long Winter.

[Niko]

https://www.accuweather.com/en/videos/michigan-weatherman-freaks-out-on-complaining-co-hosts/g1dgsxzje6gw3q_rayjiyzlwib_ynmxv

 

Nice acting dudes.

[bud2380]

This is incredible.  Rochester is 5 degrees below the previous coldest ever start to April (April 1-15th).  

 

[jaster220]

Wow, earlier in the winter, never thought i was gonna do well in the plains, but as winter progressed my jackpot area in the upper midwest came true! 

 

 

test

 

 

 

 

My hat's off to you sir. Great job. You were east of mine and it was perfect. Well done.

 

Agreed-very well done! (cept you missed the purple blob over KFNT, lol) http://www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2018/04/when_is_it_going_to_warm_up.html

[jaster220]

Getting a moderate snow shower here at this time. Snow is staying on bare spots of house roofs, note the ground is still covered with the weekends sleet or snow cover so it looks like winter out in mid April. The current temperature here at my house is 33° with that snow falling.

 

The wife and I had biz downtown GR this afternoon. With all the sleet plowed and piled, 32F temps, wind and SHSN flying it looked just like a January day! Kraziness!  Lawns have really greened up here in Marshall the past few days..

[Niko]

Currently some snowshowers and temp in the 30s. There is some light down towards the end of the tunnel folks. Weather gets betta as the week progresses.

 

Ground has whiten up!

[Tom]

The last time it's been this cold during the first 16 days of April, you have to go back to 1881!  

 

 

[Tom]

Folks in IA have re-written history, as well as, many other stats/locals across our sub forum.  It's actually pretty neat to think that we have all been a part of history in the making. Even though members on here are separated by 100's of miles, this small community of ours feels like we are all somehow connected.

 

 

 

...Historic Cold Start for the First Half of April...

This is coming as no surprise to most, but the first 15 days of
April have been historically cold for most locations across Iowa.
Estherville, Mason City, Waterloo, Ottumwa and Lamoni currently
rank as the coldest start to April on record /April 1-15/. Des
Moines is currently 2nd coldest, behind 1881, as it is the only of
the sites with records dating back that far.

Unfortunately, below average temperatures are expected to
continue much of the week. By late this week and into the weekend,
a slight warming trend to near climatological normals is expected.

April 1 through 15

Estherville average temp is 27.6F or 16.0 below normal. Coldest
on record to date.

Mason City average temp is 27.6 or 15.7 below normal. Coldest on
record to date.

Waterloo average temp is 30.6F or 15.1 below normal. Coldest on
record to date.

Des Moines average temp is 36.7F or 12.1 below normal. 2nd
coldest on record to date.

Ottumwa average temp is 37.1F or 13.8 below normal. Coldest on
record to date.

Lamoni average temp is 37.8F or 11.5 below normal. Coldest on
record to date.

[Tom]

This weekends system down near the TX Panhandle would break the dry streak for Amarillo, TX.  What a welcomed site this would be for that region.

 

 

 

What is even more interesting, the latest Euro weeklies suggest strong ridging across Canada and suppresses the pattern way down south.  Big uptick with moisture for the southern Plains right before summer begins.  Is this a trend or just noise???  If this evolves, this is a huge development heading into the summer months.

 

[Tom]

Who's ready to break out of this winter-like pattern?  By the middle part of next week into the last full weekend of April, a warm pattern takes shape and has some staying power.  The latest 00z GEFS show the pattern change into the last days of the month.  

 

 

 

 

 

[westMJim]

Here we are on April 17, 2018 and I have a new snow fall report. Overnight here at my house just over 2” of new snow fell and as the snow/sleet from the weekend storm is still on the ground there is now 3” of snow on the ground here this morning.  And there is a baseball game to be played here tonight. Looking out the window it very much looks like winter outside. The current temperature here at my house is 29 and light snow is still falling.

[gabel23]

Folks in IA have re-written history, as well as, many other stats/locals across our sub forum.  It's actually pretty neat to think that we have all been a part of history in the making. Even though members on here are separated by 100's of miles, this small community of ours feels like we are all somehow connected.

Add Nebraska to that mix. Coldest start in the Tri-Cities area in history! 

[Niko]

Under a WWA Roads are slick. On and off snow.

[Niko]

I have a feeling next Winter will be very snowy.

[westMJim]

Well I do not have to work tonight as to nights baseball game has been postponed this is now the 4 game in a row that has been postponed. At this time getting light snow it is windy and the temperature is now at 32° That is the high so far today the record coldest maximum for today is 35 set in the coldest April on record in 1907. 

 Also of note Grand Rapids has yet to reach 65°. In the last 30 years the average date for the first 65° date is March 23^rd the latest in that 30 years’ time was April 24^th in 1993. The current all time latest first 65° date is April 27^th in 1951. BTW the mean average date for the first 70° in the last 30 years is March 30^th

[Niko]

Noticed today that my grass is and has gotten greener. Yippeeeee!!!!!.......... but, Spring is on a "Hiatus."

[gosaints]

The pace of the pattern is set to pick up..  Much needed

[jaster220]

Noticed today that my grass is and has gotten greener. Yippeeeee!!!!!.......... but, Spring is on a "Hiatus."

 

Yep, the 2 ©m temps have warmed considerably    

[Thunder98]

Check out this webcam from WU in Appleton, WI area. So much snow! You guys in the Midwest are having Winter in April. 

 

https://english.wunderground.com/webcams/why4u/2/show.html

 

[Niko]

Yep, the 2 ©m temps have warmed considerably    

Crazy weather!

[Niko]

More snow coming for SEMI.....

 

Per Noaa:

 

Deformation/cold air then sweeping south late Wednesday night into
early Thursday morning will also likely result in a changeover to
snow for locations farther south as well, and could have issues for
the Thursday morning commute. However, surface temps should be more
in the 30-32 degree range vs the upper 20s we had this morning. Thus,
would not expect roads to be as icy, but would not rule out a narrow
swath of 3+ inches of snow, but in general, half an inch to 2 inches
should cover the majority of southeast Michigan (with those
accumulations being mainly on grassy/colder surfaces).

[OKwx2k4]

After the next few days, no heat or cooling demand through the 1st of May makes me a happy man. Almost looks like spring may finally show up for a few weeks.

[westMJim]

A new record coldest maximum record set. With yesterdays official high of 34° at Grand Rapids that sets a new record coldest maximum for April 17 this is the 2nd such record this week as a new record was also set on Sunday the 15th of 35°

[westMJim]

The cold continues for this April. At this time the mean temperature for April 2018 at Grand Rapids is 34.0° that is a departure of -11.4°  the first 17 days of this April have been colder than an average March that has a mean of 35.6° We still have a couple of very cold days to go before a expected warm up. We will have to see how much the mean goes up in the last 8  days or so this month. But the month will end up well below average.

[Tom]

Unfortunately, the CFSv2 is beginning to erase any idea of AN temps across our sub for the month of May and the signal is there that a "hooking" ridge across N.A. may be in the cards.  I wasn't expecting this to develop until the summer months as it has been on my mind for several weeks now.

 

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/mchen/CFSv2FCST/monthly/images/CFSv2.z700.20180418.201805.gif

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/mchen/CFSv2FCST/monthly/images/summaryCFSv2.NaT2m.201805.gif

 

 

 

Drier trends which suggest a parade of Canadian HP's and a "cooler near the lake" theme across the GL's region.  If that is the case, I certainly would image that the wetter signal in the southern Plains and across the TX Panhandle region would make sense.

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/mchen/CFSv2FCST/monthly/images/CFSv2.NaPrec.20180418.201805.gif

[gosaints]

Normal will feel tropical

[Tom]

Another mind boggling stat/map at how cold the first half of April has been...

 

[Niko]

Some snow tanite w minor accumulations. Lows near 30F. Some watches or warnings could be posted in the 4pm discussion by Noaa.

[Niko]

Currently mostly cloudy and cold w temps holding in the mid 30s (36F). Average high is 61F.

[CentralNebWeather]

Rained here overnight and into this morning.  Don't know how much as my rain gauge was blown away during last weekend's blizzard.  Time to go to the store for another one.  

[Tom]

Normal will feel tropical

No doubt, but I had some hopes that somewhat of a ridge we’re to creep into the GL’s down from Canada. You can get that type of pattern in late May.

[jaster220]

After the next few days, no heat or cooling demand through the 1st of May makes me a happy man. Almost looks like spring may finally show up for a few weeks.

 

My late March/early April bill was higher than last month's. First time I ever recall that since I've been paying for my own place a few decades now.

 

The cold continues for this April. At this time the mean temperature for April 2018 at Grand Rapids is 34.0° that is a departure of -11.4°  the first 17 days of this April have been colder than an average March that has a mean of 35.6° We still have a couple of very cold days to go before a expected warm up. We will have to see how much the mean goes up in the last 8  days or so this month. But the month will end up well below average.

 

No kidding! What happened to cold Mon/Tue warming after that??   

[jaster220]

Normal will feel tropical

 

This!  My high of 33F yesterday was 33F BELOW NORMAL!!!  

[Niko]

Currently mostly cloudy and cold w temps holding in the 30s. Dang!

[CentralNebWeather]

Been a rough year for lawn care providers so far.  I have my yard professionally taken care of with 5 applications a year.  Usually things would be greening up, but yards, trees, vegetation are really far behind imo.  They are actually going to apply granulars to my yard today that don't have to be watered in.  Thank goodness since our rain chances keep decreasing this weekend.

[Tom]

Yesterday's CPC 8-14 vs today's...AN tease lasted only a day...

 

 

 

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814temp.new.gif

[james1976]

Yesterday's CPC 8-14 vs today's...AN tease lasted only a day...

 

 

 

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814temp.new.gif

Great.....Ill be in North Carolina first week of May. Was hoping it would be warm. I think their normal is 70s now so even a bit lower would be nice compared to what we have had up here!

[OKwx2k4]

It appears to me that many in our region could be looking at one of the shortest summers in history. Just crazy stuff.