MIstorm97

May snow/graupel squalls

Had some decent snow showers in the metro Detroit area this morning. Will be interesting to see if any squalls make it down here later today

It pains me to type this out, but..... Going back to 1880, there isn't much in the way of May snow at Detroit. Out of the 140 May's, only 8 have recorded at least 0.1" of snow. The most recent instance of accumulating snow in May in Detroit was 0.1" on 5/3/2005. The other May's that had accumulating snow were 1954 (0.1"), 1923 (6.0"), 1912 (1.5"), 1909 (0.4"), 1907 (0.2"), 1902 (0.5"), and 1883 (5.0"). May 1923's 6.0" all came from one storm on the 9th. May 1883's 5.0" incredibly came on the 21st into the 22nd. The rest of those months had 1.5" or less. Will DTW get accumulating snow this month? It's certainly possible with this pattern. If the airport does, then it would put this month into some very rare air. F this upcoming pattern though. It was beautiful this weekend.

Had scheduled maintenance on my car today so it’s in the shop till tomorrow. Would’ve been on the lake otherwise. All this heavy rain is only raising the lake levels more. Gonna be an even worse fall than last year. For sure gonna lose some homes

Picked up a few tenths of an inch of snow and sleet last evening. A narrow band to my north got 1-2” of wet snow. I got some nice pictures and video in Richmond and New Haven.

Thanks! I plan on trying to create a mini documentary-style video about the impacts from the record high lake levels, as I've already collected so much footage from many events this fall through spring. I plan on getting damage shots and other B-roll clips of the lake during non-extreme wave times coming up.

Nice pictures from yesterday. I should've stuck around there after completing my video work. For once this season, the 696 corridor finally got screwed. Crazy that this season managed to get 0.5" above average after being mostly warm and having problems getting a properly phased storm. That November storm sure helped out a lot. The 3.4" at DTW is also the first April 3"+ event since April 14th-15th, 2014.

Picked up 0.9" of snow in Berkley...on the snow board. Grass didn't even have half of that probably, and of course the pavement was wet. After about 2pm everything effectively melted and despite solid SN, no new accumulations happened. If this was a month ago, those 3-4" totals would've been in northern Detroit and around 6" downriver. I did venture down to Monroe and got into some decent snow, and this hopefully is my last snow video of the season. The 0.9" of snow places me at 2.3" for April, which is the same total I got in March. My season total is now at 49.3", not bad for a warm winter like this.

Haters hate my excellent calls May slide down to the MI/OH/IN border early in the morning for video. Hopefully this is our last snow event of the season.

Few pics from yesterday’s event. The squalls ended up being pretty photogenic once again. Ready for whatever tomorrow throws at us.

Added 0.2” from one of those squalls, so I’m now at 1.2” for the day. Fun little day of April snow.

Picked up an additional 0.8” early this afternoon. The overnight snow had already melted, and now this round of snow has too. Some squalls are moving in from the NW and may add a few more tenths of an inch. Past three years have all had interesting winter precip in the middle of April.

April is the new February. ISP urging people to stay off the freeways because of all the crashes

Got a surprise 0.2” already from a tiny snow shower before this main round moves in today.

The GFS, GEM, and UKMET all took steps north with their 00z runs. So stoked for a second half of April CHI-DET snow.

Yeah the late phase meant the wind and wave event wasn’t as impressive as it could’ve been. The waves still caused damage though, and part of the Little Traverse Wheelway collapsed into Lake Michigan. I was in South Haven and saw significant erosion and dune damage. Obligatory video below.

The Lakeshore Flood Warning for GRR's CWA is...something. "IMPACTS...Significant erosion of beaches and dunes is expected. A loss of property is expected, with any buildings near the edge of the dune in danger of possibly falling. Any preparedness activities to mitigate damage should be taken today."

Actually got some legit hail up to dime size by New Haven. Was able to distinguish between hail and the other precip.

Already have photogenic squalls with lots of graupel. Couple lightning strikes showing up on DTX’s radar

Already over 250 SBCAPE across SEMI per mesoanalysis. RAP has pockets of 500 SBCAPE later today. It’s gonna be a good day

HRRR, RAP, and NAMs all have pockets of 200-300+ cape today across SEMI. As mentioned above, LLLR are very steep and freezing levels are low. Definitely some graupel/hail potential in the stronger convection, with bursts of heavy snow also possible. DTX highlighting the potential for convective gusts of 50MPH in the stronger cells. Probably will be out documenting them, as these types of events always excite me for some reason. Should have robust looking convective clouds to photograph as well.

Probably going to be another rough event for the Michigan shoreline along Lake Michigan. All this rain lately certainly hasn't helped lower lake levels either.

lol DAB if the storm materializes

Starting to be some general agreement on a potential severe event in the western lakes on Saturday. Specifics to be determined as the event draws closer, but right now there is potential for a pretty decent event. Guidance currently has an impressive upper level system moving into the region with a deep surface low (~990mb). Speed shear is off the charts, with at least some directional shear. Thermos don't look to be a problem either, with 60F dews being brought well north. Lapse rates appear to be decent as well, with thermo profiles generating 1000-2000 CAPE even on the coarse globals. I'm sure this will somehow trend to garbage, like pretty much every snow event this winter, but it's something to watch.

Thanks! I'm content if this was the last snowfall of the season. It was pretty, plus got daytime heavy parachutes. The 47.0" imby for this season is not bad at all considering how many storms have fallen apart.