Woke up to a good inch plus of snow this morning. This was the only accumulating snow so far this winter. I'm looking forward to next winter. Maybe we will have better luck.

It we are heading towards a strong El Nino for the winter there is a good chance that we could have a cooler than average summer (or at least one or more months below average) this summer. It could also be a cool fall before getting warm in December. We shall see.

We are halfway through April 2026 and it looks like we are going from La Nina to possibly a strong to very strong El Nino. So what could this bring for our summer season this year? Since 1950 there have been 9 strong or very strong El Nino events. With very strong ones in 1982/83, 1997/98 and 2015/16 and strong ones in 1957/58, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1987/88, 1991/92 and 2023/24. The summer before the start of the event was colder than average in 6 of the events and in the other 3 events there was at least one month in the summer season that was colder than average. So based on past summers at the start of a El Nino event my guess for this summer is a cooler than average summer (I will take a look at rain fall at a later date) Some of the summers were much cooler than average other had at least one month of below average temperatures at Grand Rapids. So bottom line is I would expect this summer to have at least one month or more of below average temperatures and that month could be well below average.

We are halfway through April 2026 and it looks like we are going from La Nina to possibly a strong to very strong El Nino. So what could this bring for our summer season this year? Since 1950 there have been 9 strong or very strong El Nino events. With very strong ones in 1982/83, 1997/98 and 2015/16 and strong ones in 1957/58, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1987/88, 1991/92 and 2023/24. The summer before the start of the event was colder than average in 6 of the events and in the other 3 events there was at least one month in the summer season that was colder than average. So based on past summers at the start of a El Nino event my guess for this summer is a cooler than average summer (I will take a look at rain fall at a later date) Some of the summers were much cooler than average other had at least one month of below average temperatures at Grand Rapids. So bottom line is I would expect this summer to have at least one month or more of below average temperatures and that month could be well below average. Here in MBY I added another 0.50” of rainfall yesterday and overnight. While it is raining again here in my yard it looks like most of the rain has now fallen. Friday looks warm before a strong cold front brings a cold Sunday and there it looks like Sunday night will see a hard freeze. Next week looks dry and pleasant. The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 71/60 there was 0.44” of rainfall the total for April at this time is now at 5.79” the highest wind speed was 46 MPH out of the W. For today the average H/L is 58/38 the record high of 86 was in 2002 the coldest high of 33 was in 1904, 1921 and 1935. The record low of 21 was in 1904 the warmest low of 65 was in 2002 the most rainfall of 1.97” was in 1972 the most snowfall of 11.8” was in 1961 that was a big April snowstorm for sure. The most snow on the ground was 3” in 1921. Some weather history for April 16th 1989 A cold front, ushering sharply colder air into the north central U.S., brought snow to parts of Montana and North Dakota. At midday the temperature at Cutbank MT was just 22 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) 1990 Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds across Oklahoma, with 99 reports of large hail and damaging winds during the evening and early nighttime hours. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail south of Carney, and wind gusts to 100 mph in the Oklahoma City area which swept away many Federal tax returns being transported from a mail cart to a waiting truck about the time of the midnight deadline. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City reported a record wind gust of 92 mph. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

I realize I left out west cascades fires as well, other than the 2020 event