Tagged: spring

Why is it so cold this spring?

Jeff Masters, PhD, Director of Meterology at Weather Underground, tried to shed some light on our slow seasons.

The vernal equinox, or spring equinox marks the end of winter today, and the beginning of spring.  But don't rule out the possibility of another snow fall - after all this is Michigan.

Record highs across the state are expected to continue through the rest of the week in Michigan.

The Associated Press reports:

The weather service office in suburban Detroit says there's been six consecutive days of 70 degree temperatures that started March 14 and continued through Monday. It says the last time there was such a stretch of warm weather in the area around this time of year it was April 16-24, 1886.

The weather service forecasts several more days of 70 degree temperatures. In southeast and mid-Michigan temperatures are expected to reach 85 tomorrow.

According to the Associated Press, the weather service in Grand Rapids says record high temperatures in West Michigan were broken on five consecutive days from March 14 through Sunday. In the northern Lower Peninsula, forecasters say high temperatures are coming in about 25 to as much as 40 degrees above average.

All signs are pointing to spring as the area heads for a big warm up today.

The last piles of snow and ice on the ground could melt away as temperatures might go as high as 67 degrees today in southern Michigan, 63 in the Grand Rapids area.

From the Detroit Free Press:

"Today is going to be very spring-like," National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Considine said from the White Lake office today.

Highs will be in the mid- to upper-60s between 3 and 6 p.m., with cloudy skies and a southwest wind, he said. The average high for March 17 is 46, and the record high of 75 was set in 1945.

"We’re going to be 20 degrees above normal for today," Considine said, adding that temperatures won't get high enough to break today's record.

No snow is expected in the near term, but don't put away that shovel just yet, we are in Michigan after all.

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for west Michigan. 

A cold front passed through the state overnight.   Most parts of Michigan has already recorded their high temperatures for the day.  Temps are expected to fall through the day and into the evening, as Michigan's brief flirtation with Spring comes to an end.  

There's snow in the forecast for Sunday when temperatures are expected to descend back into the teens.