michsnowfreak

Sounds beautiful! I dont recall seeing that, though I have seen a snowbow and as said above, those brutal cold mornings it can be sifting glitter from a mostly blue sky, that is a sight to see and it glitters unlike any camera can capture, tho ive tried.

I always wish i lived in a good radiational cooling area. I live blocks away from the Detroit River so the water kind of buffers my lows and makes them similar to DTW. But some of the radiational cooling spots in SE MI can really tank. The DTX NWS is a great example of this. It is a radiational cooling magnet in a rural area of Detroits far NW suburbs. They have data since 2000, so looking at the past 25 years of data, the average between there and DTW (Detroit Metro Apt) officially is very different. Annual days at or below 0F: DTW- 3, DTX- 10 Annual days at or below 32F: DTW- 117, DTX- 150 First freeze avg: DTW- Oct 27th, DTX- Oct 8th Last freeze avg: DTW- Apr 24th, DTX- May 12th Radiational cooling is apparent all year long too. Even in the heat of summer, DTX NWS will fall into the 40s several times in July & August, whereas DTW typically does not see 40s in July or August.

Another cold morning. 25F at DTW, the frost this morning was very glittery. 5 of the first 9 days of April have had lows in the 20s at Detroit: 1st- 26 5th- 29 7th- 26 8th- 23 9th- 25 Last night some isolated but potent lake effect snow showers gave a coating to an inch around Port Huron.

Game time temp was 34F. But Skubal pitched a masterpiece and Tigers won 5-0!

Some of the intense arctic shots have been concentrating more in the Plains/Midwest than the east coast. These arctic blasts typically are much colder to our west. The Great Lakes buffer the cold a bit, so in some of the biggest arctic blast we will see a "modification" of the air that often entails brisk winds and lake clouds and flakes, sometimes you get this fine arctic powder than just comes down and coats everything in glitter, despite nothing on radar, with temps being anywhere from 0F to -10F or so, whereas areas west of the lakes will be crystal clear and like -20 to -25F or something. One thing that I notice is that the arctic airmasses are windier. I mean, you still get radiational cooling on clear, calm nights (esp with snowcover) but the temps dont tank as much in the metro area as they will in the rural areas. But these arctic blasts are almost always giving us below zero temps with gusty winds, creating brutal wind chills, and we usually get a quick one or two even in the milder winters. Since the much advertised "winter pattern shift" beginning in 2016, we have still seen -30F or colder wind chills in Jan 2019, Dec 2022, Jan 2024, & Jan 2025. The coldest Ive felt was on Jan 6, 2014. It was about -14F with wind chills near -50F, and I took my gloves off to take this sunset pic and in the seconds I had my hands exposed they burned when I went inside. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that winter was only just beginning.

Its a shame there isnt more consistence. I think the reason they probably dont have spotters do it is because most cant/wont. Some will, but others wont. Again, here in a climate of more frequent but less dramatic snowfalls, Ive learned by far that the bigger the snowstorm the bigger the settling. I check the daily areas coop reports so I already know locally who is good and who is not. You can literally tell who actually measures properly and who measures whats on the board at their obs time. I have seen snowfalls that melted the day before actually go in as a trace, and thats ridiculous. I know some of the DTX mets and Ive heard from others on this board who know some of their local NWS mets. Seems to me that the consensus is, the first order stations are called/call in for every obs (00z, 06z, 12z, 18z). Detroit and Flint have good observers, Saginaw is a bit more flighty. The NWS office is located in a very rural area far NW of Detroit. I wish they kept the NWS offices at the main first order site! If there is something fishy with a first order sites report, the met will usually question the observer (Ive heard this happens with CLE NWS for the Toledo observer). I think/assume the general consensus with NWS offices is make sure your first order/main climate sites are coming in with proper/realistic measurments and as for your coops/spotters, just continue to post the "how to measure snow" guidelines on social media and hope for the best

Agree. We have to separate the earth is warming from the winter cold availability. We go below zero and have had more impressive cold shots than we did locally in the 1930s-50s. Three different winters between 2014-19 saw temps get to -13F or colder at Detroit. That low (-13) was not attained once from 1935 til 1963.

I always use the 6 hour method. However, im curious....why would spotters be discouraged from doing this? I didnt think most of them did it anyway. The 6-hour method is standard at all first order climate sites, but as for spotters, I always looked at them as volunteer weather observers who are volunteering their hobbyist observations; I take most spotter reports with a grain of salt whether its from 1910, 1960, or 2025 lol. But again, this primarly affects the bigger storms.

Oh yes! Dry snow = bad for ASOS. Dry snow AND wind = nightmare for ASOS. Its less of an issue with a standard rain gauge but still not fool proof.

Its very frustrating for fans who had tickets tho. Its one of those things that will never make everyone happy. Its VERY tricky to schedule baseball based on a forecast tho. I have seen summer games where they delay the start due to a forecasted thunderstorm that never really hits the stadium area lol.

I use a standard NWS rain gauge. So I do it the "old-fashioned" and fool proof way. Melt each snowfall. By doing this you will find that all snowfalls are different, although your sliding scale is an excellent base. Many ASOS have problems with drier snow, so you will see some slightly underdone totals which just baffles me that we have to deal with this in 2025, but it is what it is.

Spring of 2020. Oh boy lol. A 1.3" snowfall on Apr 15th was followed by 3.4" on Apr 17th. Then an unprecedented 5 days in a row of snow in May (May 8-12) which peaked as a half inch of wet snow on the 10th (Mothers Day).

This "snow being undermeasured" in the old days is widely skeptical IMO. Its just another excuse for some to try and find an excuse for the weaker winters of the old days, and assume the snowier winters were even snowier. Whether its 1880 or 2025, snow is measured by a human and subject to human error. For starters, nearly all first order stations have used the same 6-hour snow measurement practices since 1950 or so, not 1980. As for pre-1950 data, a key I look for is precip total, snowfall, and snow depth. This is where you would notice any inflations or undermeasurments. One thing working in their favor in the pre-1950 years vs today is that the weather obs were highly cared for and someone was monitoring around the clock. With most first order sites now away from the actual NWS (weather bureau in the old days), you rely on the observers to be on top of things if anything like melting, mixing, etc occurred between the 6 hour intervals. In the old days they were on top of all that, documenting every detail (ie: snow began at 7:38pm, or snow ended at 3:42pm). If one truly measured only at the end of a storm or whatever, you would find that it is mostly the larger storms that are more inflated using 6 hours. The main data I question locally is the 1870s-1890s data. Far too often they always used the 10-1 ratio. If I had to guess, what I THINK they did was measure the snow depth "on the level" and apply a 10-1 ratio. Once we get to 1900 or so is when the data becomes more clear (ie, its not always 10-1 ratio, the snow depth is more in line with compacting/settling, etc). In my spare time Im working on piecing together weather data from the 1830s-1860s. I have several journals/books that detail it, so Im trying to piece together the good and not so good years. As I understand it, the 1860s were generally harsh winters, the 1850s a mixed bag, and the 1830s-1840s were quite mild and "open" winters with a few exceptions. So dont just assume any linear up or down at any level. Last but certainly not least, in terms of future snow...dont assume warmer means less snow for all. While it may be the case for NYC and south, for places farther north it could be a completely different story. Milder winters often lead to more dynamic/powerful snowstorms in further north climes.

This years Tigers home opener had a game time temp of 50F, which was the warmest home opener in 10 years. Games 2 and 3 were mid-40s then yesterdays game time temp was 38F. Todays will be in the 30s somewhere (it was 23F this morning!). Sitting in the cold during April games is quite uncomfortable, even for a winter lover. When the chill of Fall hits for Sept and especially Oct baseball, its a complete different story. There nothing like the crisp, chilly autumn air swirling around the smells of the ballpark during playoff baseball! Of course its not quite as cold as April, but the difference is the April cold comes after a long winter when youre body is used to cold, whereas Fall baseball comes after a hot summer. Yet it hits so differently.

DTW got down to 23F this morning with wind chills near 10F. A few more flurries overnight. Definitely feels like winter.

They changed due to cold, not snow. Lows tonight and tomorrow night in the low 20s with wind chills tonight in the teens. The decision to move up was because it's "warmer" in the day. Tomorrow should have sun but high only 37, maybe some lake snow showers. Wed will be warmer but rain and snow possible at night. Just sucks for whoever had tickets to night games.

Big cold front came thru. Its windy and the flakes are flying off and on. Wind chills in the teens later. They changed all 3 games to day games this series because of the cold.

If I had to pick between a nino and nina, its nina all day everyday here so Im fine with them being more frequent. That said, ENSO episodes have proven multiple times the past few decades that they dont always behave according to expectation. It does seem that ninos and ninas are kind of suffocating "neutral" years and making them few and far between.

Snowing at the Tigers game

Some aspects were el nino-esque, but not all. There was more sustained winter than youd expect up here in a nino (although some weak ninos are very wintry). Weve heard multiple times in previous years, and imo it was true in 2019-20 & 2022-23, that the total snowfall was misleading for the winter, making it look better than it was. Well, I have to say that 2024-25 was the first winter since 2014-15 where the winter was actually better than the snowfall number would indicate.

I definitely see why they did it, but I like night games better. That really screws up people who have tickets.

I always say, whenever people say that in January, that its way too soon. But by the time March came around and the pattern turned milder, it became a very realistic "goal" for MLI. I can honestly say ive fortunately never been close to that situation...but if I was, id be super pissy and still root for an April snowstorm to ruin it. MLI will also finish with the 3rd least amount of days with 1"+ snowcover- 17 days (this ties with 1921-22 & 1943-44). The 2 winters that had less were 1927-28 (16 days) and 1986-87 (8 days).

Yeah thats more accurate! If no more measurable snow falls, Detroit will finish with 60% of avg snowfall (using 1991-2020 averages....if using longterm avg, it would be 66% of avg). There is a threat of snow this coming week however. With such widespread snowfall deficits (similar to last decade when we would see widespread snowfall surpluses), you know its going to change soon. Hopefully with an improving Pacific it will be a stormier winter in '25-26.

I enjoy any snow, but Id still prefer March snow because often times here we can still be very wintry in March. Yes you still have the sun angle concerns, but it can still be like mid-winter. April snow comes and goes quickly. As to the bolded, that was very common here as well, particularly from the 1930s-1950s, but in almost any decade you can find mild, lackluster winters where March saved the day. Most recently, it would be 2022-23.

JB has always had his cold/snowy bias, but he hasnt been relevant in years. I dont think anyone actually takes him seriously anymore lol. Following anyone (whether its via weather forums, twitter, social media weather pages, etc) with a long enough posting history makes it pretty easy to see who has the cold biases, who has the warm biases, and who is very neutral/unbiased. I follow the neutral guys closely and dismiss the rest.