westMJim

This is not a complaint as such but, as this is a weather blog I will post this here. There looks to be some new virus "hot spots" and since Tom is from the Chicago area and in the last week or so Illinois has really taken a up tick in both cases and deaths (4,015 cases and 142 deaths) and there are other very "warm spots" in and around Washington DC and the numbers have been up in Texas and Georgia one has to believe that the Unites States still don't have this under control.

NEW RECORD LOW??? It looks like a new record low may have been set at Muskegon. The looks to have been 29 this morning at Muskegon and if that becomes official it will set a new record low. The overnight low both here at my house and at the airport was 29. While not a new record low it was none the less the 3rd coldest low of any May 12th at Grand Rapids. At this time the mean at Grand Rapids is 47.5 and that is a departure of -7.9°

At this time, it is cloudy here at Grand Rapids with a temperature of only 41. Across the state temperatures run from just 32 at the Sault to 44 at Marshal. In the UP and northern lower Michigan temperatures are stuck in the 30’s even with full sun. https://www.exploremunising.com/web-cams/ and https://www.mtu.edu/webcams/ Well it is time for me to put on my winter coat and go for a walk.

It looks like it will take two weeks or so to get a report on how much damage was done form the freeze. If some of the flowers do not develop fruit that is ok but if a lot do not develop then that is bad. But it looks like it could take up to 2 weeks to find out.

More likely than not it was 2018. April was very cold that year and the flip started at the end of April. May 2018 was much warmer at the start than this May has been. But starting on May 24th it became hot with highs in the upper 80's to the mid 90's No word yet on the frost damage here. I reached out to some local farmers to see if they will give a report. It maybe they do not know yet.

The first 10 days of May 2020 will go down in history as cold and some what dry. The mean here at Grand Rapids for May 1st thru the 10th is 48.2° and that is a departure of -7.1°. For a comparison the average mean for Grand Rapids for the month of April is 48.0 so the first 10 days have been more like a continuation of April. There has only been 0.21” of rain and a trace of snow was reported. Today’s forecast high of 47 will once again put today as one of the coldest maximum for this date. Looking ahead it looks like we will warm up to near average by the weekend. By Friday, the average high is 69 and by Sunday it is up to 70.

You know that is a good question. I looked but did not see any information in the news. And looking up online the only things I can find are going back to 2017. On my walk yesterday and today the few fruit trees I can see seem to be doing OK. I have one apple tree in the yard but it dose not have blooms on it yet. To me everything seems to be a little behind where it should be for this time. Anyway I will let you know if I hear anything on the fruit damage.

May 8 2020 Yesterday was a historical cold day across Michigan. While no new records were set it was a top 5 coldest May 8th an many locations. Here at Grand Rapids the high of 44° is the 2nd coldest maximum for the date. And the low of 29° is the 3rd coldest low. (for today May 9th the low of 26 is the 2nd coldest low for May 9th) At Muskegon the yesterdays high of 45 is the 5th coldest maximum and the low of 27 is the 2nd coldest low. To the east at Lansing were records go all the way back to 1963 the high of 45 and the low of 27 are good for the 4th coldest. On the east side of the state the Detroit high of 46 was there 3rd coldest maximum and there low of 31 is the 2nd coldest low. At Flint the high of 45 is their 2nd coldest. The low there of 31 did not make the top 10. At Saginaw the high of 45 is the 2nd coldest maximum and the low of 30 is good for the 5th coldest low. Up north at Alpena the high of 39 is the 2nd coldest maximum. Their low was not in the top ten. And at the Sault the high of 36 was there 3rd coldest maximum and the low of 27 was their 7th coldest low. To add insult all locations also set records for snow fall and while all but the Sault were just a trace the Sault had 0.2” of snow fall.

Today is a little warmer than yesterday but it is still not a great day for May. At this time it is 51 here with clear skies but it is rather windy and that really puts a chill on everything.

Yesterday was a historical cold day across Michigan. While no new records were set it was a top 5 coldest May 8th an many locations. Here at Grand Rapids the high of 44° is the 2nd coldest maximum for the date. And the low of 29° is the 3rd coldest low. (for today May 9th the low of 26 is the 2nd coldest low for May 9th) At Muskegon the yesterdays high of 45 is the 5th coldest maximum and the low of 27 is the 2nd coldest low. To the east at Lansing were records go all the way back to 1963 the high of 45 and the low of 27 are good for the 4th coldest. On the east side of the state the Detroit high of 46 was there 3rd coldest maximum and there low of 31 is the 2nd coldest low. At Flint the high of 45 is their 2nd coldest. The low there of 31 did not make the top 10. At Saginaw the high of 45 is the 2nd coldest maximum and the low of 30 is good for the 5th coldest low. Up north at Alpena the high of 39 is the 2nd coldest maximum. Their low was not in the top ten. And at the Sault the high of 36 was there 3rd coldest maximum and the low of 27 was their 7th coldest low. To add insult all locations also set records for snow fall and while all but the Sault were just a trace the Sault had 0.2” of snow fall.

The overnight low here at my house was 26 and that looks to be the official low at GRR as well. Most locations in lower Michigan had at least a trace of snow fall yesterday and that set records at many locations for May 9th. At this time it is windy but with mostly clear skies with a temperature of 36 here.

With clear skies the current temperature here is now at 29 and a DP of 13

I was wondering this same. No I have not seen him on here for a while.

At this time it is partly cloudy here with a temperature of 41 the DP is only 13 at this time and with winds gusting to 30 MPH yes there is a wind chill. And at 2 PM the report from Bellaire. MI was heavy snow with a temperature of 29. And at the Sault it was 31 with light snow falling. Not a nice day for the merry month of May.

At this time the official reading at GRR is 36. Here at my house it is 38 with partly cloudy skies. The DP is currently in the teens that and the wind just makes it feel that much colder. Today will be one of the coldest maximums for this date. The record coldest high for today is 41 set in 1947. The forecast high for today is at 42. The average high for today is 67. The record high for today is a warm 89 set in 1926. The record low for tomorrow AM is 23 set in 1947. In 2nd place is 27 set in 1966.

Not sure about rain fall but as to temperatures in the past May's that have been cold have tended to cooler than averages summers. Some examples are 1945, 1960, 1974, 1997 but some have been mixed like 1947 that had cool June and July but a hot August. 1947 up and down. So we shall see how this summer goes. For me it will not be as much fun either way as I work for the local minor league baseball team and it don't look like we will be playing this year.

We will have to see just how cold it really gets on Friday and for the next several days after. At this time a high of 43 per the NWS is in the forecast for tomorrow. The record coldest maximum for May 8th is 41 set in 1947 when a trace of snow was also reported. In 2nd place is 44 set in 1974 in 3rd place 47 set in 1945 and in 4th place is 48 set in 1960. The low for tomorrow night is foretasted to be 27. The record low at Grand Rapids is a cold 23 set in 1974 with 27 set in 1966 in 2nd place followed by 28 in 1966 and 29 in 1977 and 1955.

It is clear and 39 here at this time. While in the SW it is going to be record heat here in the Great Lakes that is not going to be the case. This is from this mornings GRR discussion and it is not pretty "TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO DROP INTO THE MID TO UPPER 20S AREA WIDE. FRUIT TREES IN OUR SOUTHWEST AREAS, FROM GRR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST ARE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE COLD AS THESE ARE THE ZONES THAT HAVE THE FURTHEST DEVELOPMENT. THE FREEZE WARNING IS FOR ALL ZONES THAT ARE CURRENTLY ACTIVE/IN THE GROWING SEASON, ROUGHLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM PENTWATER TO ALMA. AS A SIDE NOTE ON THE COLD, 850MB TEMPERATURES FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING WILL BE ABOUT AS COLD AS IT GETS. THE ECMWF IS FORECASTING -11 TO -13C AIR TO BE MOVING THROUGH THE LOWER PENINSULA. ACCORDING TO THE SPC SOUNDING CLIMATOLOGY WEBSITE THIS WILL BE ABOUT THE COLDEST IT HAS EVER BEEN AND SOUNDING RECORDS FOR DTX GO BACK TO THE 1940S, INCLUDING DTX/MTC AND FNT AS SOUNDING SITES."

This could be a tough weekend for the area fruit farmers and for us the consumers later in the year. The NWS is still thinking that the lows could be in the low to mid 20’s this weekend and even some upper teens look to be in play. The critical temperatures are 28 and below for a lot damage and if it gets below 24 for several hours it could be nearly complete damage to most fruit for this year. It looks like to our north the colder April has held back the budding and thus there looks to be less chance of any major damage.

The sun is now up. The temperature here at my house is 34 but no frost here this AM.

42 and cloudy here at this time. Still looks like there could be a hard freeze here over the weekend and with lows in the lower 20's that would do a number on this years fruit crop in SW Michigan.

Your area looks to be a little more advanced in the green up than it is here in west Michigan, But there are some fruit tree blossoms out and if it gets down into the low 20's this weekend there could be a lot of damage. 28 is kind of the cut off point.

What do the years 1903, 1907, 1924, 1917, 1945, 1947. and 1997 have in common? Well they all had either a cold May and record lows in May and all of them had colder than average summers. Well "cooler" than average. Many had frost in Northern lower Michigan and the UP all summer long. But note the following winters some were average and some were warmer than average. But that is the way things go. Do not plant the tomato plants until late May or June this year. and as for the fruit trees?? it depends on how far along they are and just how cold it get this weekend. At this time it is clear and 47 at GRR and 50 here at my house

I am going to go and cut the grass. At this time it is officially 67 at the airport and here at my house I now have 70.

There is a mention by the NWS of some snow for next weekend. While it is somewhat uncommon for it to snow in May it has happened in the past. And this may come as a surprise but the dates of next weekend May 8 thru the 10 have the highest snow fall records for Grand Rapids recorded history. For May 8 the record is just a trace and that has happened in 1980, 1954 and 1947. Now for May 9 the record is 5.5” that fell in 1923 and for May 10 the record is also 5.5” and that fell in 1902. The lasts snow fall at Grand Rapids that I can find is a trace that was reported to fall on May 26, 1961.