westMJim

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.

Yesterday was a great day for early May. And while today also looks to be a good day weather wise that may not be the case next weekend. While things still could change but at this time it looks like next weekend could be near record cold. And there is a chance of some snow as well. This from the NWS “IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT BASED ON SPC SOUNDING DATA HISTORY, THE COLDEST 850 TEMP IN MAY FOR THE DTX SOUNDING AT 850 MB IS AROUND -12C. BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS BRING -10C AT 850 MB NEAR US FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. THIS WOULD SUGGEST RECORD COLD IS POSSIBLE. RECORD LOW HIGHS ARE IN THE LOW TO MID 40S FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AT OUR CLIMATE SITES. RECORD LOWS ARE MOSTLY IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. WE WILL HAVE TO WATCH THIS AS A HARD FREEZE IS MORE THAN POSSIBLE. IT WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW SHOWERS FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY, SO IF THERE IS ENOUGH MOISTURE IN THE LOW TO MID LEVELS, GIVEN THE INSTABLITY SUGGESTED BY MODEL SOUNDING, ONE SHOULD EXPECT AT LEAST SCATTERED SHOWERS OF SNOW, OR MIXED SNOW AND RAIN FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. SOFT HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE THEN. I DO NOT THINK WE WILL SEE ANY SIGNIFCANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW BUT I DO BELIEVE WE WILL SEE SOME SNOW FALLING DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.” Now here are the cold records for next weekend at Grand Rapids. For Friday, the 8th the coldest maximum is 41 set in 1947 and the record low is 27 set in 1976. For Saturday, the record coldest maximum is 43 set in 1960 and the record low is 23 set in 1947. And for Sunday the record coldest maximum is 47 set in 1947 and the coldest low is 22 set in 1966.

With is now being May this should be the end of the snow season for most of Michigan. There is still a chance of more snow more so the further north you go. But here are the totals (I hope) for the season. Grand Rapids April 2.2” for the season 55.5” Muskegon April trace for the season 51.9”. Lansing April 1.2” for the season 45.9” To our east Detroit April 4.9” season 43.2”. Flint April 1.2” season 53.7” to the north. Marquette April 21.6” for the season 205.6” and there is still 1’ reported on the ground there. In norther lower. https://www.weather.gov/apx/snow

Here is a quick look back at the year so far. For the year at Grand Rapids the mean so far is 35.4° the average mean for the 1st 4 months is 33.7° so at this time 2020 is at +1.7° Now a good case can be made that April 2020 was indeed well below average. But January 2020 was a whopping +6.9° so that has been the difference so far this year

Light rain falling with a current temperature of 48. 0.43" of new rain fall was recorded overnight, so far a two day total of 2.36".

You should also know that the average low at this time is 42. And the low overnight was 57 with that rain falling just it was for April a warm rain.

I STAND by my statement that in Michigan in April with a rain falling with a temperature of 57 is a warm rain. Most of the time in April with rain falling the temperature is much colder than 57. By the way the official high here in Grand Rapids yesterday was 71 and the overnight low was 57 with a DP of 55 during that (by your standards was a cold rain) At this time it is 63 here with a cold light rain falling. Don't worry I will explain the weather conditions the way I want to and I did say it felt tropical.

I have to wonder where you really live. A rain in Michigan with a temperature of 57 with rain in April is a WARM rain. The average high for today at GR is 64. At this time it is still raining with a temperature of 57. And yes that is a warm rain in April.

Wow, Just took a rain fall measurement and so far 1.93" of rain has fallen here overnight and so far this morning. And it has been a warm rain at that with a current temperature of 57 here. So that should speed up the leaf development over the next several days. And of course it will be grass cutting time big time.

It is 39 here at this time with some light fog. The sun is now out so the fog will burn off. I had 0.16" of rain here yesterday.

It is 50 and partly cloudy here. I cut the grass for the fist time this year yesterday. If past years are any indication cutting the grass will be a common form of exercise for the next several weeks. I too miss sports and not just watching, as I work part time at the Van Andel and 5/3 Ballpark so I am not working either. I miss the games but not some of the concerts that much. I do not think minor league baseball will be played this year. And as for hockey in the fall we will have to see how the summer plays out.

I just put a quote up about Alpena. They were the last county in Lower Michigan to have a case and as of Saturday there are at least 60 cases and 2 dead.

For anyone who thinks that just because they live is a small town and or in a state that has little or no cases I would like to point you to Alpena in northeast Michigan. Alpena was the last county in lower Michigan to have a case. I have kept track because I lived there for a while as a kid and I still have a niece that lives up there. They went from no cases to at least 60 in less then 3 weeks. Here is the report from the Alpena News. https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2020/04/covid-19-how-do-we-compare/ If anyone gets critically sick in Alpena they more likely than not would have to go to Traverse City or Saginaw. Of course that is common is all small towns.

Officially it is now up to 63 at Grand Rapids. Here at my house I am now at 68. It is now time to go out and cut the grass.

There is clearing to the west and today looks to be a nice day. At this time it is 46 here at my house. I think today I will cut the grass for the first time this year. Some years the cutting season starts in mid April and others not until May. Once into May cutting the grass might be a two times a week thing for a while. It depends on how much rain we get.

In checking past heat waves in Phoenix one year that caught eye was 1992. In 1992 while not all records but all in the top 5 for the date. The high reached 100 on April 25, 101 on the 26th, 104 on the 27th, 104 on the 28th, 104 on the 29th, 101 on the 30th. Then 102 on May 1st, 101 on May 2nd and 100 on May 3rd. Of course the summer of 1992 was one of the coolest on record here in the Great Lakes

Grand Rapids now has had 12 days in a row of below average temperatures and the mean for April is now at 42.6° and that is good for a departure of -4.2° The average high for today is 62 and by Thursday the average high is 64. It is cloudy and 41 here at this time.

Yet another cloudy and cool late April day. The current temperature here is 40° And now this April had a departure of -4.2° Remember the average high in Grand Rapids is now 62.

For anyone who likes to use analog year for a long range guess Accuweather came out with their summer guess and in that guess they use the years 2005,2013,1959,2016,2018,2009 and 2007. They are putting extra emphasis on 2013. Of the obove summers some were warm and some were cool with 2009 much cooler than average. In their guess they are leaning towards a cool summer to our west and a warm summer to our east. BUT remember how their winter guess turned out.

It was a cold morning in Michigan on Wednesday. In the UP Spincich Lake fell to +3. a +6 was reported at Doe Lake. Other lows around Michigan were 14 at Cadillac, 16 at Baldwin, 22 at Ionia, Ludington, Mt Pleasant and here at my house. 24 was the official low at Grand Rapids, Marshall and Muskegon. 25 was the low at Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. With a 26 at Benton Harbor and Holland.

Yesterday was yet another very cold April day. With a H/L of 41/24 Grand Rapids tied a record for the low and it was the 4th coldest maximum. We now have 6 days this April that have seen a top 10 for the coldest maximums. At this time the mean for the month is 42.5° that is a departure of -3.9°