March 2010 Archives

It might seem like a longshot, but it's not unreasonable that we could give some area weather records a run for their money later this week.

Here are some of the records from the National Weather Service for Wednesday through Sunday:

WED 3/31  
Grand Rapids 78 DEGREES-1986...Muskegon 80 DEGREES-1981...

THU 4/1  
Grand Rapids 77 DEGREES-1946...Muskegon 72 DEGREES-1946...
  
FRI 4/2  
Grand Rapids 79 DEGREES-1963...Muskegon 76 DEGREES-1999...
  
SAT 4/3  
Grand Rapids 80 DEGREES-1999...Muskegon 77 DEGREES-1999...  
  
SUN 4/4  
Grand Rapids 77 DEGREES-1921...Muskegon 72 DEGREES-1942...  

You can check out the updated 7-day forecast on the main weather page.

Skywarn severe weather spotter training sessions continue around West Michigan.  In fact, there are only a handful of sessions left for the season.

Tonight (Monday, March 29) you can go to the Greenville Public Schools Central Services Building at 7:00 P.M. to learn more about recognizing elements of severe storms and reporting them to the proper authorities.

For the whole list, go to the National Weather Service page.

MODIS Hi-Res/true color satellite image - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - NOAA/Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

 

Here is a neat satellite image that shows the last remnants of the ice along the south shore of Lake Erie and the southern tip of Lake Huron extending into the St. Clare River.  A freighter was reportedly stuck in the flow ice on the St. Clare River near Marine City, Michigan which required the assistance of U.S. and Canadian coast guard tug boats to set it free.

Most ice is out across the southern half of the Great Lakes.  Warmer temperatures are on the way for the very end of March and the beginning of April.  In fact, portions of the lower Great Lakes including southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and southern Lower Michigan could experience the first 70 degree readings of the spring during the later half of next week!   

OK, morning news viewers, we're having some fun with the NCAA tournament and everyone's obsession with 'brackets' this time of year.  So, we decided to create our own tournament of anything that came to mind.  There was no rhyme or reason put into it, and we don't expect you to use any when making your picks!  So, check in on the Live Blog at FOX17online.com each morning during the tournament for updates and to contribute your choices.  I'll keep posting results here.

FOX 17 Morning News "Bracket of Brackets" - Winners in BOLD

Walla Walla Region - Round 1 Complete - Round 2 Wed 3/24

(1) Fluffy Kittens

(16) Bratwurst                          (16) Bratwurst

                                               (9) Back to the Future

(8) Homemade Mashed Potatoes

(9) Back to the Future

 

(4) Oprah

(13) 5 Minute Drum Solos        (13) 5 Minute Drum Solos

                                               (12) Scalding Hot Coffee

(5) The British Parliament

(12) Scalding Hot Coffee

 

(3) Avatar

(14) Highways                         (14) Highways

                                               (11) Aardvarks

(6) Laundry

(11) Aardvarks

 

(7) Kansas City Royals

(10)  "The cast of Jersey Shore"  (10) "Jersey Shore"

                                                    (15) Sand Castles

(2) Peabo Bryson

(15) Sand Castles

Timbuktu Region - Round 1 Complete - Round 2 Thu 3/25

(1) Matt Damon

(16) A Bucket of Fried Chicken      (1) Matt Damon

                                                   (8) Pizza

(8) Pizza

(9) Chest Hair

 

(4) Camping

(13) Akron, Ohio                     (4) Camping

                                             (12) Vanilla Milkshakes

(5) Flannel Pajamas

(12) Vanilla Milkshakes

 

(3) Titanic

(14) A String Quartet            (14) A String Quartet

                                            (6) Eric Clapton

(6)  Eric Clapton

(11) Cow Manure

 

(7) Arbor Day

(10) Wet Dog Smell               (7) Arbor Day

                                          (15) The Jefferson Memorial

(2) Jack Bauer

(15) The Jefferson Memorial

 

Istanbul (not Constantinople) Region - Round 1 Mon 3/22

(1) Asian Carp

(16) A Leather Sofa

 

(8) Shenanigans

(9) The Sound of Music

 

(4) Inspector Gadget

(13) Quantum Mechanics

 

(5) U2

(12) Ramen Noodles

 

(3) Top Gun

(14) Hoobastank

 

(6) Semicolons

(11) Cedar Point

 

(7) Shuffleboard

(10) Grand Canyon National Park

 

(2) Monkeys

(15) Novocaine

 

Moon Region - Round 1 Tue 3/23

(1) Minty Fresh Breath

(16) Diversified Mutual Funds

 

(8) Camels

(9) Argyle Socks

 

(4) Cabernet Sauvignon

(13) Unicycles

 

(5) Lady Gaga

(12) Roast Beef

 

(3) Ingrown Toenails

(14) Sarah Jessica Parker

 

(6) The "Fauxhawk"

(11) Charles Dickens

 

(7) Donuts

(10) The Dick Van Dyke Show

 

(2) Elroy Jetson

(15) President Martin Van Buren

Wednesday, you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day by learning about severe weather spotting procedures.  Head to Portage City Hall at 6:30 P.M.

Click here for more info and the full schedule of training classes.

March 15-19 is Flood Safety Awareness Week.  Click here for the National Weather Service site.

You can also find information on local river levels, flood stages, and more at this page.

Now that it is 'meteorological spring,' the NWS has put out the climate summaries for the winter season of December - February:

..THE GRAND RAPIDS MI CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM   
12/1/2009 TO 2/28/2010...  
  
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000  
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1892 TO 2010  
  
WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR'S           
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)        
                                          NORMAL                         
............................................................  
  
TEMPERATURE (F)  
RECORD  
 HIGH              69   12/05/2001                                      
                        02/11/1999                                      
 LOW              -24   02/14/1899                                      
                        02/13/1899                                      
HIGHEST            49   01/24        53      -4       61  02/10         
                        12/02                                           
                        12/01                                           
LOWEST              4   01/30        -6      10       -8  01/17         
                                                          01/15         
AVG. MAXIMUM     31.7              31.9    -0.2     31.1                
AVG. MINIMUM     21.7              18.1     3.6     16.5                
MEAN             26.7              25.0     1.7     23.8                
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0                
DAYS MAX <= 32     55              46.8     8.2       60                
DAYS MIN <= 32     83              82.4     0.6       85                
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               7.4    -7.4        7                
  
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)  
RECORD  
 MAXIMUM        13.78   1898                                            
 MINIMUM         2.08   1987                                            
TOTALS           5.64              6.27   -0.63    11.32                
DAILY AVG.       0.06              0.07   -0.01     0.13                
DAYS >= .01        43              44.1    -1.1       56                
DAYS >= .10        19              17.2     1.8       26                
DAYS >= .50         2               2.6    -0.6        6                
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.9    -0.9        2                
GREATEST  
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.56   12/09 TO 12/09                                  
  
SNOWFALL (INCHES)  
RECORDS  
 TOTAL           94.9   2008                                            
TOTALS           69.5              52.1    17.4     94.5                
SINCE 7/1        70.2                                                   
SNOWDEPTH AVG.      4                 3       1        5                
DAYS >= 1.0        19              14.9     4.1                         
GREATEST  
 SNOW DEPTH        11   12/11                         17  12/24         
 24 HR TOTAL      9.5   02/09 TO 02/10                                  
  
DEGREE_DAYS  
HEATING TOTAL    3424              3599    -175     3695                
 SINCE 7/1       4692              5056    -364     5005                
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0                
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0                
  
FREEZE DATES  
EARLIEST                        10/13                                   
LATEST                          05/02                                    
.............................................................  
  
WIND (MPH)  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.5  
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    32/050    DATE  02/05  
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    44/050    DATE  02/05  
  
SKY COVER  
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   19  
  
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            4  
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             17  
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         69  
  
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     73  
  
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH   
THUNDERSTORM              1     MIXED PRECIP               2  
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       2  
LIGHT RAIN                8     FREEZING RAIN              2  
LT FREEZING RAIN         11     HAIL                       1  
HEAVY SNOW                8     SNOW                      17  
LIGHT SNOW               57     SLEET                      2  
FOG                      51     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      9  
HAZE                     52                                             
                                                                      
-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.                                        
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.                                  
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.                                         
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.                                            

Now that meteorological spring has arrived, the NWS has put out the summaries for
West Michigan for the winter season of December-February.

...THE MUSKEGON MI CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM   
12/1/2009 TO 2/28/2010...  
  
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000  
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1895 TO 2010  
  
WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR'S           
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)        
                                          NORMAL                         
............................................................  
  
TEMPERATURE (F)  
RECORD  
 HIGH              67   02/11/1999                                      
 LOW              -30   02/11/1899                                      
HIGHEST            50   12/01        52      -2       61  12/27         
LOWEST              2   01/30                 3       -4  01/20         
AVG. MAXIMUM     31.8              32.3    -0.5     31.0                
AVG. MINIMUM     22.2              19.3     2.9     18.0                
MEAN             27.0              25.8     1.2     24.5                
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0                
DAYS MAX <= 32     53              44.4     8.6       56                
DAYS MIN <= 32     84              80.9     3.1       86                
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               3.8    -3.8        5                
  
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)  
RECORD  
 MAXIMUM        13.42   2009                                            
 MINIMUM         1.38   2003                                            
TOTALS           6.36              6.44   -0.08    13.42                
DAILY AVG.       0.07              0.07    0.00     0.15                
DAYS >= .01        43              46.5    -3.5       58                
DAYS >= .10        20              25.1    -5.1       29                
DAYS >= .50         2               2.3    -0.3        7                
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.6    -0.6        2                
GREATEST  
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.69   12/09 TO 12/09                                  
  
SNOWFALL (INCHES)  
RECORDS  
 TOTAL          140.6   1977                                            
TOTALS           73.2              82.0    -8.8    133.0                
SINCE 7/1        73.2                                                   
SNOWDEPTH AVG.      5                 5       0        7                
DAYS >= 1.0        19              22.0    -3.0                         
GREATEST  
 SNOW DEPTH        12   12/28                         22  01/18         
                        12/27                             12/24         
 24 HR TOTAL      8.8   12/26 TO 12/26                                  
  
DEGREE_DAYS  
HEATING TOTAL    3396              3529    -133     3635                
 SINCE 7/1       4705              4999    -294     4975                
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0                
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0                
  
FREEZE DATES  
EARLIEST                        10/14                                   
LATEST                          05/04                                    
.............................................................  
  
WIND (MPH)  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.2  
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    32/220    DATE  01/10  
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    45/260    DATE  12/10  
  
SKY COVER  
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM                                        
  
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            6  
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             12  
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         72  
  
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     76  
  
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH   
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               2  
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       2  
LIGHT RAIN                9     FREEZING RAIN              0  
LT FREEZING RAIN          4     HAIL                       0  
HEAVY SNOW                5     SNOW                      18  
LIGHT SNOW               60     SLEET                      1  
FOG                      54     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      9  
HAZE                     26                                             
                                                                      
-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.                                        
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.                                  
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.                                         
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.                                            

Boy, has it been nice to see so much sun in the last couple of days!

Grand Rapids officially received 1168 minutes of sun (19 hours, 28 minutes) in the first two days of the month.  That's just a shade (pun intended) more than the 1159 minutes that we got in the previous TEN days, February 19-28.  And it's way more than the 894 minutes (14 hours, 54 minutes) that G.R. picked up in nearly a three WEEK stretch at the end of December (13 - 31).

Based on the last two days and the current forecast, we could pretty easily see more sunshine in the first six days of March than in the entire month of Feburary.

Here's a link to the page with the local climate data if you're interested in doing more research.

What do sunny days with mild afternoon temperatures above freezing alternating between clear, chilly nights mean?  The beginning of Sugar Bush!  This week's weather will be perfect for the beginning of maple syrup production.  It all starts by having the appropriate weather to get the tree sap flowing.  We are gaining nearly three minutes of daylight each day now.  Combine that with sunny, mild days and clear, cold nights and you have great weather to start tapping the maple trees for sap.  It takes just over 40 gallons of collected sap to be boiled down and reduced to a gallon of amber gold, pure maple syrup.  Look for area producers to have the first batch of maple syrup for the 2010 season ready before the end of this month.  Now all you need is some homemade pancakes, fried potatoes, and bacon or sauage links to celebrate this annual rite of spring!   

 

The month of March came in like a lamb across West Michigan on Monday afternoon with sunshine and above freezing temperaturers in the mid 30s to around 40 degrees.  In fact the high hit 41 degrees in Grand Rapids which was only the third time this year the temperature has reached 40 or better.  Furthermore, it was the second warmerest day we've seen so far this year next to the rainy 49 degrees that occurred on January 24.  You can expect quiet, late winter weather this week with a gradual warming trend over the weekend.  We should see plenty of sunshine on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as daytime highs rise from the mid 30s on Wednesday to lower 40s by Friday.  Nighttime lows will be chilly over the next few nights as skies will be mostly clear to partly cloudy with light and variable winds.  Some locations in the countryside away from the cities could see lows briefly dip into teens.  Otherwise a developing storm system later in the weekend will likely pull warmer air northward into Lower Michigan.  Temperatures will warm into the 40s over the upcoming weekend with an increasing chance of some light rain or drizzle along with some areas of fog Saturday night into Sunday.