Christmas Day Weather
December 24th, 2008 at 10:41 pm by Bill Steffen under Bill's Blog, Weather
Christmas morning – The Winter Weather Warning and Advisories have expired. The NWS reports the “whitest Christmas” ever in GRR was a snow depth of 22″ on 12/25/51.
We’re already at 50.1″ of snow for the month in GRR (60.1″ for the season), the 4th highest amount of snow ever in the month of December (average is 18″) and the 4th highest for ANY month. Muskegon is up to 66.5″ for the month (81.3″ for the season). Kalamazoo has had 39.6″. Lansing is 21.4″ for the month and 31.5″ for the season. Kalamazoo (WMU) is up to 40.6″ for the month and 47.7″ for the season. East Grand Rapids has 57.6″ for the month and 62.3″ for the season. Ludington tops the list with 73″ of snow for December (that’s over 6 feet!) and 91″ for the season. Muskegon still has a long way to go to reach their monthly record of 102.4″ in Jan 1982. I remember that month…we had blizzards three weekends in a row in January.
This is also on track to be the cloudiest month EVER! We’ve had only 7 hours and 59 min. of sunshine this whole month. That’s 3.6% of possible sunshine. The cloudiest month ever in GRR was Nov. 1992 with 5.1% of possible sunshine. We had more sunshine last Fourth of July than we have had in the last 25 days combined!
Temperature-wise here’s how far we are below normal this December: Grand Rapids: -4.0 deg., Kalamazoo -5.9 deg., Chicago -7.8 deg. Official snow depth: Grand Rapids 12″, Muskegon 16″, Wellston in Manistee Co. 29″, Alyeska AK. (summit) 104″ (272″ for the winter so far). Verkoyansk in Siberia had a HIGH temperature of -71 deg. F on Saturday.
Check out the National Warning Map. Here’s the NAM/GFS model data, the 120-hour total snowfall from the GFS model and the 84-hour total snowfall from the NAM model (note because the NAM is only 84-hours, it will have less snow than the GFS, which goes out 36 more hours). Here’s a wider view of expected snow. Click for the Great Lakes Radar Loop, the eastern U.S. surface map. Michigan surface weather map, and the latest GRR NWS discussion.
Snowing here. I am home from work. I left at 10:30. Told you I wouldn’t be there long! Also I am really worried about the snow on the roof. You can’t get to the snow on my roof. I’ve never worried about it before though.
Hello! Where is the snow? I haven’t suffered through all these snow storms and bad roads for rain on Christmas?!?!
Looks like the precip is about outta here! Yay….
Worst winter storm warning in quite a while, without a doubt.
The logic that the wet roads might freeze is nice, but has NOTHING to do with what wsw’s are supposed to be issued for.
Such a waste michael – I’m sorry!
40F over this way…
Here in saranac it appears the rain has stopped – but its still pretty warm and stuff is melting.
Will we still get snow tonight? When I look at the radar it looks like its all going east and there doesn’t appear anything below whats leaving
Why are we still under a WSW?
hey craig – i just saw your earlier post that you used up all your prozac last friday worrying about me? i sorry.
big slushy mess here. yuck. then it’s suppose to freeze again, then by saturday heavy rain and 51?! oh my.
This “storm” is history. Any snow tonight will be lake induced. The WS Warning will be cancelled shortly with the aftn update.
Doc, no apology needed. You’re worth it, don’t cha think???
aw, thanks Craig.
Merry Christmas.
My husband said roads are starting to flood. He said West River at Jupiter is flooded and some flooding at West River and Northland. I really hope it’s not bad on my drive tomorrow AM.
You’re welcome doc and Merry Christmas to you, as well.
Question: you did lay into your hubby for leaving you all alone to take the helm during the ice storm, didn’t you???? LOL
Yeah, here it is. I was waiting for it to happen. Isabella, Kent, Ottawa, Montcalm, and Allegan have been downgraded to WWA’s, a couple more have been added into the WWA.
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
300 PM EST WED DEC 24 2008
http://kamala.cod.edu/mi/latest.wwus43.KGRR.html
How bad do you think the roads are going to get? I have to go to Sparta tomorrow AM for christmas and then back home to cook Christmas dinner for the whole family.
GRR took any mention of a snowstorm following the passage of the cold front Saturday night… Another BUMMER to absorb!
N. IN still holding onto post frontal snow potential for Saturday night. All hope is not lost….
Yeah Craig, I’m not sure where they got that idea in the first place. Those post frontal snows never seem to work out. Either the wave is stronger and it just rains more, or it’s weaker and slides to the east.
LONG TERM…(312 PM EST WED DEC 24 2008)
(THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)
THE ECMWF/GFS/GEM ALL AGREE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE WESTERN
TROUGH BY THE END OF THE WEEK. THIS TROUGH WILL THEN PRODUCE SW FLOW
ALOFT OVER THE EASTERN US INCLUDING THE GREAT LAKES. THAT WILL LEAD
TO A DRAMATIC WARM UP BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
CONCERNS DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD MAINLY DEAL WITH FRIDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY NIGHT. A DEVELOPING LOW IN THE CENTRAL ROCKIES THURSDAY
NIGHT WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARD NRN MN. STRONG SW FLOW…60KT AT
850 MB…WILL DRAW WARMER AIR NORTH. HIGHS WILL CLIMB WELL INTO THE
40S. STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL DEVELOP THURSDAY NIGHT AND SATURATE
THE COLUMN BY FRIDAY. CONTINUED STRONG PRESSURE ADVECTION WILL CAUSE
RAIN TO DEVELOP FRIDAY. INITIALLY…THE SFC WILL STILL BE COLD.
FORECAST SOUNDING SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR A MIX OF RAIN/FREEZING
RAIN/SNOW IN THE MORNING THAT WILL TURN TO RAIN BY THE AFTERNOON.
THERE SHOULD QUITE A BIT OF FOG TOO. ELEVATED LI/S FALL BELOW 0C BY
FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE TRAILING COLD FRONT GETS CLOSER. THEREFORE WE
LEFT THE MENTION OF THUNDER IN THE GRIDS. BUFKIT SHOWS THE POTENTIAL
FOR AT LEAST AN INCH OF RAIN WITH THIS SYSTEM. THAT COULD CAUSE SOME
FLOODING PROBLEMS…NOT TO MENTION ROOF LOADING PROBLEMS WITH ALL
THE SNOW ON THE GROUND.
BY SATURDAY EVENING…COLDER AIR WILL BEGIN FLOWING BACK INTO THE
REGION ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE COLD FRONT AND TURN LINGERING
MOISTURE BRIEFLY BACK TO SNOW. AT THIS POINT…SUNDAY LOOKS DRY.
ANOTHER COLD FRONT APPROACHING TUESDAY NIGHT MAY GENERATE SOME LIGHT
SNOW.
I DO like this paragraph at the end of N Indiana’s outlook. Something to hope for anyway.
OTHERWISE SE CONUS/WRN ATL RIDGE GETS MAULED BY THIS SYS AND LEADS
TO A MUCH NEED REPRIEVE FM THIS LENGTHY WINTER WX ASSAULT OF THE
LAST 2 WEEKS. FLAT WESTERLY FLW WILL PROMOTE DRY WX AND MODERATION
TO SEASONAL NORMS THROUGH THE WEEK YET SUSCEPTIBLE TO BUCKLING AGAIN.
NO DOUBT DY10 SOLUTIONS FM GFS/ECMWF BEAR WATCHING AS BOTH SIMILAR
IN PORTRAYING A SIGNIFICANT BUCKLE AT THAT TIME FRAME AND POTENTIAL
SNOWSTORM ACRS THE GREAT LAKES/OH VALLEY.
Here is N. IN NWS’s thoughts……OF ADDNL CONCERN IS W/SECONDARY FNTL WAVE SAT AND SEEMINGLY GROWING POTENTIAL FOR A BURST OF POST FNTL SNOW ESP WRN HALF IN CONCERT W/TIMED MID LVL DEFORMATION DVLPMNT. ECMWF HAS HIGHLITED THIS POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESSIVE RUNS W/GFS COMING ON BOARD LT SAT AFTN AND SAT EVENING. BASED ON LATEST SOLUTIONS AND TRENDS WILL MAKE A MORE DEFINITIVE NOD TWD ACCUMULATING SNOW W-E SAT NIGHT.
Oh man, I missed this one earlier from the AFD. I knew it was going to rain, but thunderstorms?
A MUCH WARMER AIRMASS WILL TRY TO MOVE IN FOR THE END
OF THE WEEK WITH POTENTIAL FOR GUSTY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.
Back home from Middleville. Had christmas with my wife’s side of the family. It started snowing as we drove into the drive way. It’s a heavy wet snow. I can’t even keep up with all these storms, and when the next one will hit us. I am waiting for our snowplower to show-up, he is in the area. Everyone have a good night, Merry Christmas. My wife and I are going to have our christmas tonight, with her son. Maybe even have a cup of CHEER.
Enjoy your cheer Larry.
We’re of for Christmas with my family tonight. Merry Christmas everyone. You too Bill!
It’s real windy here in Portage. I was supposed to go to Chicago today and didn’t want to take chances. Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Although temp says above freezing, my “Slush” is now hard ice. Thanks for this excellent updates. Merry Christmas!
Gusty winds in Marshall at 4:30 PM. Gusts over 40 knocking down small branches.
It’s been snowing all day in the White Cloud / Hesperia area. Sure hoping the White River stays right where it is.
After several hours of pouring down rain and temps in the low 40’s, the rain has finally stopped and now the wind has picked up considerably. The last gust here at our house was 46mph. Outside is just one big pile of slush which will soon freeze up solid.
wow temps falling! 24.4* now…
GTO – seems a little quick. All the 5pm obs over your way are above 32F. Check em out!
Hey Bill-
I keep hearing the news stations talking about the weight of the snow on the roof. How much snow can most homes (slanted roof) hold??
So am I to assume it’s going to take me FOREVER to go from my house to Sparta tomorrow?
Oh, Tyler (Watchman Tyler) sent me a text earlier and said that his family was stuck in a traffic jam in Canada…guess it could be worse…haha.
NOPE Jen – you should be good to go! Kick back and relax tonight. Christmas only comes once a year and last I heard it is all about PEACE. Hope you get a good dose of it this season…Merry Christmas!
I was in our basement for the last two hours, and I got upstairs and the wind has really picked up. I have no idea how fast it’s blowing, but it’s really gusty.
We lost our power here on the northside of Hastings, about 4PM. The power just came on. Don’t know if it was weather had anything to do with it.
craig sorry that was the wind chill at the time. opps. temp is 32.5* now!
Merry Christmas all! Still 36* over here and windy!
Merry Christmas to you pinkstraits!!! hehe
Crazy windy right now… what are we looking at overnight, people? Significant snow?
No significant snow tonight, or tomorrow or Friday or Saturday….after that there may be a chance.
I am worried about the roads around here. All the water is going to freeze…..
so, Craig, this is just a moisture-free cold front coming through that’s causing the wind? it just feels like prime storm weather…
Jen – cut it out! The strong winds are gonna do a great job of blow drying the roads. It’s Christmas, take a break from the “worries”, just for this one day, ok????
Mark – take a look at this and make your own forecast from it….let me know what you think!
http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/centgrtlakes_loop.php
Merry Christmas Blogger Family! I hope you enjoy the Holiday season!
Is it really going to hit 50 degrees on Saturday?
What does it look like for our long term, this weekend and into January? Good snow and/or ice chances?
haha Craig — yeah, it looks like no precip is coming unless the Lake magically conjures up something for us…
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!
Yep, 21 today. I actually feel rejuvenated as I start a new chapter in my life. I have had a GREAT day, we had snow all day and I took measurements… A WHOPPING 29.5″ ON THE GROUND HERE!!!!! It was great packing today so I got out and made a couple snowmen, I have some “snowbrication” (fabrication of snow) to do yet, but it’s coming along. Had a sleet mix in late, now it’s windy and getting cooler again.
I hope everyone is having a good one, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
I SHALL BE BACK FRIDAY, I WISH ALL OF YOU THE VERY BEST!! TRAVEL SAFE IF YOU’RE HEADED OUT, MAKE THE MOST OF IT! =D
I will try craig. Watching a movie right now trying to relax. Might have a Mike’s hard lemonade or make my special raspberry lemonade to help out too!
Happy Birthday Charles!
Good idea Jen K….enjoy and may you have a peaceful Christmas!
The wind is crazy out there!