Weather Connection

September Saturdays (fill in the blank with an S-word of your choosing)

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 22:16:00 -0500

Anyone who's been at a college football game this month knows this already...

Saturdays so far in September have been the coolest days of the month.

On the 4th, the high in Grand Rapids was 62°. The best Saturday has been the 18th, at 66°. But the coolest two days of September so far have both been Saturdays -- 59° on the 11th and 60° on the 25th (today).

All told, the average high on Saturdays has been 61.8°.

Take out Saturdays and average every other day of the month, and the average high jumps to 74.6°!

I like sweatshirt weather as much as anyone else, but one nice Saturday to get in a last round of golf wouldn't be a bad thing.

Unfortunately, it looks like things will be cooling down again next weekend!

Ant hurricane? Um, wow.

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 06:49:24 -0500

I don't know if this is real, or what could possibly be the explanation:

The original poster claims the ants did this for two full days.

So many questions: Aren't they dizzy? What are they planning? And, most importantly, WHY?

Edit to add: this is apparently a phenomenon known as the "death spiral." Weird.

Here's an explanation.

Fishing vs. Sea Lions

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:15:44 -0500

Monday morning, I discussed this story from the coastal waters of Alaska -- the federal government is trying to close two major commercial fisheries due to a declining population of sea lions, which are an endangered species.

Here is the link to the full story in the Seattle Times.

Historic Heat Wave

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:08:46 -0500

If you think it's been hot in West Michigan the last few days, you should compare this summer to the summer of 1953.

In late August, a large area of hot air built into the region, setting six days of record high temperatures in Grand Rapids over a span of eight days.

The high temps were:

Date High Temperature

Aug. 27, 1953 95°

Aug. 28 94°

Aug. 29 95°

Aug. 30 91°

Aug. 31 97°

Sept. 1 97°

Sept. 2 93°

Sept. 3 95°

For better or worse, significantly cooler air is on the way for West Michigan this weekend!

(Photo: Susan Yunker, Murray Lake)

Hurricane Katrina statement lives on 5 years later

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:22:41 -0500

On a Sunday afternoon, I went to work at my previous station in South Bend to find an ominous message issued by the National Weather Service office in New Orleans. The statement, in great detail, foreshadowed the devastation that would follow as Hurricane Katrina made landfall that night:

-----------------------------------------------------------

URGENT -- WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA

1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28, 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED... .

HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

---------------------------------------------------------------

Studies by Congress and the National Weather Service after Katrina suggested that this statement helped residents understand the need to evacuate and perhaps saved thousands of lives. The bulletin was described as "the most chilling ever issued by the service."

Blitz Forecast - 08.27.10 - Week 1

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:12:55 -0500

What a great night for high school football! Don't be surprised if you see me at a couple of games around the area this season... I'm planning to fill in as a photographer for a few weeks! -Jon

Is the moon getting smaller?

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:35:23 -0500

Got this Facebook post from Amanda Monday:

"Hey Jon, I was wondering if could tell me about the moon getting smaller. I've heard some ppl talking about it."

Believe it or not, there are actually two things Amanda might have been referring to:

- The full moon today (August 24th) is the smallest of 2010, because it is the furthest away from the earth. The technical term for this is the "apogee" of the moon, which occurs about 12 hours after the full moon. That means that this full moon appears about 12% smaller from our eyes than the biggest one, which was in late January.

- A recent article explains how a NASA orbiter has found "wrinkles" on the moon's surface, which suggests that the moon is actually shrinking.

The Moon is Shrinking, Say Scientists

Think of it like a cake or something where the top wrinkles and cracks as it cools.

The process doesn't suggest any major impacts on the Earth, but it sure is interesting!

"Two Moons?" Not So Much...

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:07:57 -0500

In an annual ritual, I've received my first e-mail about Mars looking as big as the moon coming up in late August. The people who forward these e-mails always mean well, but you should know that the claims of the e-mail are not true.

There are different forms of the text, but the one I see most often says something like "Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye." Like most prolonged myths, it's partially based in fact -- an event sort of like this occurred in 2003. But even then, you had to use a 75x telescope in order to have Mars appear to be the same size as the moon.

When I get e-mail forwards like that, I always check them out at snopes.com. Here's their page about the "Mars Spectacular" e-mail.

Knowledge is power!

Memorial Day Flash Flooding

Mon, 31 May 2010 22:46:30 -0500

Here is an impressive image of the storm total precipitation estimated by the Grand Rapids National Weather Service Doppler radar from early Monday evening.

For nearly three hours between 2 and 5 PM, strong thunderstorms produced torrential downpours and intense cloud-to-ground lightning. Spotter reports and radar data indicated that 5 to as much as 7 inches of rain fell around Belmont and Rockford in north/central Kent County! Small creeks and side street drains turned into small rivers with numerous basements flooded and a section of Childsdale Road near the Rogue River washed out.

Locations that received heavy rain on Memorial Day will have a chance to dry out on Tuesday as sunshine returns with afternoon temperatures near 80 degrees for the first day of June. More showers and a few thunderstorms will be possible again on Wednesday as the beginning of June will feature near to a bit below normal temperatures and occasionally wet weather.

Severe Weather Awareness Week

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:16:47 -0500

The forecast stays clear of severe weather for at least the next week, but it is still Severe Weather Awareness Week for the state of Michigan.

Here's a link to the state page for the event.

The week's daily 'themes' include:

Severe Weather Awareness Week Schedule
Sunday, April 11	Recap of 2009 and general tornado information
Monday, April 12	Severe weather terminology
Tuesday, April 13	We will discuss the statewide test tornado drill scheduled for Wednesday April 14th
Wednesday, April 14	Tornado safety rules
Thursday, April 15	Flash flood/flood safety rules
Friday, April 16	Thunderstorm and lightning safety rules
Saturday, April 17	Discussion on the hazardous weather outlook...the short term forecast...special weather statements...and NOAA weather radio all hazards

Midwest Meteor Entry Seen on Doppler Radar.

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:43:40 -0500

Doppler Radar image of meteor trail over southwest Wisconsin at 11:02 PM EDT, Wednesday, April 14 - National Weather Service Forecast Office Davenport, IA

A brilliant, exploding meteor called a "bolide" lit up the skies across much of the upper Midwest late Wednesday evening. Sightings of the fireball extended as far east as Michigan and as far west as North and South Dakota. A number of building cameras and even a police car dashcam captured the object as it streaked across the sky and exploded somewhere above southwest Wisconsin. This particular radar image shows the debris trail left by the meteor when it was around 24,000 feet above ground level. A number of witnesses near the entry site reported bright flashes of green and white light accompanied by a series of sonic booms.

Meteor scientists estimate the object was made up of asteroid material and was about one yard in diameter. It is very likely that some of the space invading debris reached the ground after the parent object exploded. If recovered, any fragments would be referred to as meteorites.

Bye Bye Sprummer!

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:08:02 -0500

Hail damage from Monday night's severe storm in southern Kalamazoo County - Photo by Jim Gobles

We can say goodbye to our early spring/summer weather (SPRUMMER). It was a week ago that we enjoyed sunny skies and record high temperatures in the lower 80s. The first severe storms of the spring pounded portions of southern Lower Michigan on Monday night. One of the hardest hit areas was in southern Kalamazoo County near and south of Schoolcraft and Vicksburg where hail up to 2 inches in diameter and wind gusts over 70 mph caused significant damage. We can look forward to temperatures being some 40 degrees colder this Thursday afternoon from what they were a week ago and it is not impossible that scattered light rain showers could be mixed with a few wet snow flakes!

Warm Weather Spring Chorus

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:53:32 -0500

A sure sign of spring is the emergence of the frogs and their nighttime mating chorus throughout the woods and wetlands of West Michigan. The recent heat wave has allowed for a fury of activity. The wood frog, chorus frog, spring peeper, and tree frog are the most common species of frogs responsible for that familiar midnight choir. Consider yourself fortunate if you live in an area where you can listen in on these critters. It is one of those annual events that signal the change of seasons that make Michigan such a wonderful place to live!

Fire Weather Watch

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:30:36 -0500

Because it generally only happens once or twice a year, it's valuable to review what a "Fire Weather Watch" and "Red Flag Warning" mean. Essentially, a Red Flag Warning is more appropriately termed a "Fire Weather Warning."

It's especially important to remember given the fact that we still have a lot of very dry leaves, branches, etc. since things haven't "greened up" around the area yet.

We also have been very dry. Grand Rapids saw less than half the average rainfall for the month of March, and no measurable precipitation since March 20.

Here are the criteria:

- Temperature above 75°

- Humidity less than 25%

- Winds (or frequent gusts) above 20 mph (measured at airport sites, 10 meters above the surface)

Since Sunday, there were at least 6 wildfires or prescribed burns reported in the Manistee National Forest in Newaygo County. Here is the link for recent wildfire reports from that area.

Here is the link for the fire weather forecast protocol from the National Weather Service.

Breaking records?

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:49:27 -0500

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.