michsnowfreak

We often get a few flakes in October, but for the most part its the perfect autumn month. Arguably the most popular month of the year for the "general public" in MI.

A "traditional" La Nina pattern here would be a mild Fall then near/below avg temps towards December. I believe Fall would also be on the dry side before turning wet in winter. With the rapid drop in average temps during Oct & Nov, a mild Fall still can be full of crisp, sunny days and the color can be spectacular. Once the leaves fall then im all about getting those blue departures in here lol. Not sure about other locations, but here, November has the largest difference in average temps from the 1st to last of the month of any month of the year.

I love Fall, so i usually am not too picky about temps. I'd rather have a dry sunny October. But I still hope for more seasonable temps to enjoy the color show.

ORD has more than doubled DTW. 88 today for a high at DTW, total of 10 days this year of 90+

Flash flooding hit parts of the area. A cell set up over DTW and dropped 2.68" officially but 4-5" JUST west. Also rains north of Detroit dropped 2-5" in southern Macomb co. Meanwhile just 0.33". Really been missing out this summer here.

Like most Nina winters, there were still plenty of ups and downs. And this is a classic example of how bitter cold during winter can go wrong for us. It was a near avg snow season overall (42.6") including heavy November snows and a 10" late March storm. But mid winter? January was actually mild. In fact, the entire second half of January saw either 0 snow on the ground or just a T. In February the bitter cold hit but with it came light snows. Only a T-1" of snow covered the ground the first third of the month, the middle third was bare, and the last third had 1-2" snowcover. This along with frequent bouts of below zero cold. Another strange thing is that while Feb 1934 was brutally cold for the east, for the rest of the midwest it wasnt nearly as cold. While Minneapolis and Chicago finished colder than avg, it wasnt near record cold like it was for Detroit and east. It was also a very bare month for Chicago and Minneapolis.

Tampa is weird. They avg 91 days annually of temps 90F+ but just dont hit 100F.

A thing of beauty

1931-32 remains the 2nd warmest winter on record (behind 1881-82). It was virtually winter less until a Feb 4th snowstorm. Grass was green with dandelions in January. 1933-34 was a good winter, though snowfall was just barely above avg. Essentially an avg snow season. Feb 1934 saw brutal cold but much like the cold of Feb 1899 it was met with suppression so while areas of the Mid-Atlantic were buried in snow we were cold and dry. 1935-36 was a very cold white winter but snowfall was a bit below avg. Then 1936-37 is the least snowy winter on record. The snowiest winter of the 1930s was the first one (1929-30).

It was extra bad in NYC but it was bad in many places. Here are some headlines from the Detroit Free Press Aug 9-12, 1896

Wow thats really bad. The July 8-14, 1936 heatwave, which locally featured 7 straight days of 100F+ and a state record of 112F in northern lower MI...killed 285 in Detroit, 579 in Michigan, and over 3800 in the U.S.

Yes rarely, although it was WAY more common 1930-1955. All occurrances of 100F+ on record: 1878- 1 1887- 1 1911- 1 1918- 2 1930- 1 1931- 1 1933- 1 1934- 2 1936- 8 1939- 1 1941- 1 1946- 1 1952- 1 1953- 2 1955- 2 1977- 2 1988- 5 1995- 1 2011- 1 2012- 3 So since records began in 1874, it has hit 100F+ a total of 38 times. 21 of those 38 came in a 26 year span 1930-1955, with the remaining 17 spread out among the other 124 years of record. Another way to look at it...in 150 years of record...11 years between 1930-1955 saw temps of 100F+. The entire remaining 124 years of record only saw such temps in a total of 9 years. The heat of that era - and heat deaths - were a major news story. Several of the dustbowl winters were putrid as well, but by far the heatwaves were the biggest impact.

NYC average 90F+ per decade. They too saw a big jump in the 1930s, but not as extreme as Detroit or other areas of the midwest, closer to the effects of the dustbowl. 1870s- 10 1880s- 8 1890s- 15 1900s- 10 1910s- 12 1920s- 13 1930s- 19 1940s- 20 1950s- 18 1960s- 18 1970s- 17 1980s- 20 1990s- 20 2000s- 12 2010s- 19 2020s- 17

Our avg # of 95F+ days per decade 1870s- 1 1880s- 1 1890s- 2 1900s- 0 1910s- 2 1920s- 1 1930s- 6 1940s- 4 1950s- 4 1960s- 1 1970s- 2 1980s- 2 1990s- 2 2000s- 1 2010s- 3 2020s- 1

Yes. Ive been saying that for years. Laughing when I see some article predicting a magical increase from an average of 12-13 days per year to like 40 in a decade or two. Been seeing that garbage since the 1990s. Its not happening with increasing dewpoints. We had a spike in the 2010s after a dip in the 2000s. Just two years ago, 2023 became the first year since 1915 to not have a temp hotter than 90F.

We got 0.11" overnight. DTW got 0.43". First measurable rain in exactly 2 weeks

You WANT more 90s? Glutton for punishment Here the dustbowl saw a massive increase from previous decades then calmed down some in the 1960s. Avg annual days of 90+ at Detroit (1870s and 2020s not full decade). 1870s- 4 1880s- 5 1890s- 9 1900s- 6 1910s- 11 1920s- 9 1930s- 19 1940s- 16 1950s- 15 1960s- 11 1970s- 12 1980s- 13 1990s- 12 2000s- 10 2010s- 16 2020s- 12

I did not create the graph, only reposted it. Certainly seems legit though, with the notorious dustbowl years reigning supreme. Humidity and mins are whats been increasing here in summer, not days in the 90s. I can vouch that in Detroit, the decade with the most 90s was the 1930s.

Thanks Don! I do not even know who Tony Heller is. I simply posted 1 graph that i saw and thought was interesting. Im more interested in local climate data from individual sites, but there has been so much discussion of conus wide averages lately that when i saw this pop up i thought it fitting. I see some posters post dozens and dozens of posts/graphs/tweets etc. I have enjoyed posting with you and others on these weather boards for over 20 years now. I discuss all kinds of weather, post photos, and discuss lots of past/present climate data from all seasons. Tcc? Textbook definition of troll. For him to call me a troll is as ironic as you can get. Popped up a few years ago. Has no interest in weather or any climate data besides present day warm records. He spams every subforum with unwanted posts (then replies to himself with more) that annoy warm and cold lovers alike. I dont even need to go into the many examples i could use. His posting reputation speaks for itself.

Our last measurable rain here was July 12. The forecast is peppered with "chance of storms" "chance of storms"...but will any actually produce here?

Who is a troll? Heller?

Thought this was interesting, especially since a few like bluewave are always interested in US data, not just local data.

Thought this was interesting. 90° days in the US are 23rd lowest on record to date.

The funny thing is Grosse Pointe snowfall numbers seemed more realistic the past few years many times. They used to be a joke. Obviously the 102° is wrong. Grosse Pointe if anything should be cooler due to its proximity to the water.

What your thoughts on a busier December? I mentioned earlier, but last year December and February kind of swapped a typical Nina pattern. It seems like Im saying this every year, but we are due for a good December and if any traditional pattern screams "good December" for here, its when the atmosphere is in a nina-like state. And before someone starts in with the "maybe its because winter is starting later" thing...we have had NO problem getting big November cold shots or abnormally snowy Novembers. Weve had a few perfectly timed White Christmases, but Im talking we need a good December monthlong blitz. The last above avg snowfall Dec was 2020 but that was JUST barely...have to go back to 2017 for the last real good December. In the time since, literally every other month October through May has had standout snowfall relative to avg at some point, except December.