michsnowfreak

Detroits warmest: Jan- 1932 Feb- 1882 Mar- 2012 Apr- 1955 May- 1991 Jun- 1933 Jul- 2011 Aug- 1995 Sept- 1881 Oct- 1963 Nov- 1931 Dec- 2015

90s had warm winters and summers but cool falls and springs locally. Very similar to the 50s. The trends locally are that November is cooling off then December warms up....Jan/Feb are staying the same temp wise but the snow is increasing...Apr is cooling down...then the heat is on May-Sept. The local jokes about how we don't have spring and fall anymore are actually given a tiny bit of credence with these trends. Though as always the general public exaggerates everything. Winters are not only snowier than they've ever been, but there have been I believe 4 or 5 decades with Warmer winters than the 2010s. Clearly summers increasing temps are the most notable and that is widely due to low temps. Heatwaves/90 degree days pale in comparison to the behemoths of the 1930s-50s. My guess is summers are getting more humid, thus temps not falling as much.

Where were obs taken before the airport? At Pittsburgh since records began in 1875, all months alltime warmest reading was pre-1934 except Mar (2012) & Apr (2017). Harrisburg Sept/Dec temps were about 3.5° warmer in the 10s than the 80s.

Pretty much. Summarizing the changes to Detroit normals: Annual temp went up 0.2°, annual precip went up 0.85", and annual snowfall went up 2.5". Feb, Apr, Nov got colder, the other 9 months got warmer. May-Sept got the most warmer and especially with min temps.

DTX has updated https://www.weather.gov/dtx/NewClimateNormals

I did as well...hope there's another link!

For the 2nd year in a row April saw more snow than March in Detroit. In fact going back to the Winter of 2014-15, mother nature has been confused at the beginning and end of the season. 2014: Nov- 4.0", Dec- 0.1" 2015: Nov- 6.2", Dec- 1.3" 2018: Nov- 6.7", Dec- 0.5" 2019: Nov- 9.5", Dec- 2.7" 2020: Mar- 1.7", Apr- 4.9" 2021: Mar- Tra, Apr- 3.6"

We had snow observed 5 days in a row (May 8-12), a feat never before seen at Detroit. This includes measurable snow on May 10th (0.7" imby, 0.5" DTW). I figured we'd used up our May snow quota for years...but ya never know haha

By a mile the most exciting storm of spring was the Apr 20/21 snowstorm. There were 3 events in April that had around half inch of liquid (including the snowstorm) and there were a few rumbles of thunder in 2 days but nothing really resembling a soaking or true thunderstorm with any wind.

May starts with a freeze. 32 at DTW but the cold spots of Ann Arbor and White Lake were 24.

last year there was a very potent cold snap around this same time.

DTW hit 83. Feels like a summer night. What a week lol.

Had to edit this thread a little bit since I save these picture summaries...winter was not done after all. APRIL 2021 - 4.5" (continue) 4-20-21 Snow began just after noon and fell all day, melting at first then transforming the landscape into a Winter wonderland by late afternoon and evening. 4-21-21 following a storm that dropped 4.4" of snow imby & 3.5" at DTW, the scenes on the cold April morning were gorgeous.

Now that the snow has melted I'm really noticing lots of tree branches down around town. Mostly Bradford pears and Norway maples. Thinking today might be the last freeze of the season.

To recap stats posted earlier in the thread....in addition to becoming just the 9th 1"+ snowfall for Detroit and 5th 1"+ snowfall for Toledo on record on/after Apr 20..... Largest snowstorms on/after Apr 20 Detroit (since 1881) 6.0" May 9, 1923 5.0" May 21/22, 1883 4.3" Apr 23/24, 2005 3.5" Apr 20/21, 2021 3.0" Apr 29, 1909 Toledo (since 1891) 5.2" - Apr 20/21, 2021 4.0" - Apr 23/24, 2005 4.0" - May 9, 1923 2.0" - Apr 21, 1922 1.3" - May 6/7, 1989 Buffalo (since 1883) 7.9" - May 9, 1989 5.2" - May 2/3, 1909 4.8" - Apr 20/21, 2021 4.5" - Apr 30/May 1, 1908 2.8" - Apr 26/27, 1919 For my personal records (since 1995) 6.7" - Apr 23/24, 2005 4.4" - Apr 20/21, 2021 0.7" - May 10, 2020 0.2" - Apr 20, 2013 0.1" - May 3, 2005 I do note however that this was by far the most scenic late season snowfall I have ever seen. People were taking pictures like crazy, here is pictures that a friend sent me who lives nearby but in a more rural area. This is his backyard

One last collage I made was of a few scenes specific to wyandotte because the city's Facebook page asked for people to post pictures of the "beautiful April snowfall" rather than talk about covid for a change. I was surprised at how everyone who had been disgusted at the forecast of late season snow was talking about how beautiful the snow was. When I went to the park to take pictures it was crowded almost like it would be on a summer day with people enjoying the scenes and taking photos. Nice way to end the season, the 1st flakes of the 21-22 season are only about 6 months away. Storm total snowfall of 4.4" here had 0.49" of liquid, however at the beginning of the storm the snow was melting as it fell and at the end of the storm ratios were actually a little better than 10-1. Season total snowfall 47.0". Detroits 3.5" gives them a season total of 44.9", a few inches above avg but it will be interesting to see the new avg next month.

Thanks. I can't remember taking so many pics of one snowfall. I was going through them all to find my favorites. Here are 3 more collages I separated by.. MARSHMALLOWS COLORFUL SPRING BLOOMS WINTER LOOKING SCENES

Thank you. Driving around town was just surreal. you rarely see scenes like this no matter how much snow you get. Spring green up 2 weeks early + a very late snowstorm = just incredible beauty. Pics don't even do it justice. Snow has finally fallen from the trees mostly but still some on the ground.

2nd collage

I took tons of pics. collage of my favorites

Finished with 4.4" here. Detroit got 3.5". Detroits southeast suburbs to the Ohio border got 3-6" with much less to the north. The 3.3" at Detroit on 4-20 was a record for the date. This was the 4th heaviest snowstorm on record this late in the season, and just the 9th time in 140 years that a 1"+ snowfall occurred on or after April 20th. The scenery this morning was absolutely amazing. Thick snow on blossoms was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

a bit earlier

I'm at 4.2". just had to shake snow off my white pine.

You get the bonus of snow starting at night. Our snow started at 12:30 p.m. and did not start sticking until around 5:00 p.m.

Thank you. seeing it in person was crazy. the trees are sagging.