Strong to severe storms ripped through portions of West Michigan late Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening. Several of these storms produced strong, gusty straight line winds of at least 50 - 60 mph, with some a bit higher between 60 - 70 mph. There are many locations that have trees snapped off or uprooted, and downed power lines. Frequent lightning may have been the cause, or at least contributed, to fires in around Sparta in Kent county. Heavy rain produced another inch or more in some locations on top of an already saturated ground. There is also some speculation that a tornado may have touched down around the Fruitport and/or Sparta area, but there is no evidence of it at this time. All indications seem to point to straight line wind damage, but the National Weather Service will be conducting a survey of the damage on Monday. Photos below show storm damage in Coopersville from Denny Krepel.
Kevin Craig: August 2009 Archives
Now that July 2009 is finally one for the record books, it's worth noting that it also ended up being the coldest July on record for Grand Rapids. Our average temperature for the entire month was 67.1 degrees. If you were to take all the high temperatures and low temperatures for the month, then divide by 31, you'd get an average of 67.1 degrees. This beats out the old record of 67.2 degrees in July of 1992. Our warmest day for the month was 84 on July 27. We had several days that were in the 70s, and even a few with highs in the 60s. That alone can bring done an "average" dramatically. Muskegon reported their fourth coldest July on record, while Lansing tied fifth for their coldest July. Although the first week of August is starting out much the same, there is a warmup forecast for the upcoming weekend that should get us back to around 90 or better. Stay tuned!
