michsnowfreak

I was using the 30 year avg. Which is June 10th. The POR avg is June 18th.

Tomorrow will be the first 90 of the year for DTW. The avg first is June 10th.

Heatwaves were just brutal in the 1930s-50s...with no AC

DTW is located in Romulus, MI. Areas near the airport range from suburban to even semi-rural. Though I currently work from home, from 2015-2021 I had a job where my commute involved passing the airport daily. I became WELL versed in how the temps work (I would pass just south of the airport and then get on the freeway which would drive right past then north of the airport). Temps just south of the airport are an Ann Arbor like bowl of extreme radiational cooling. Talking a quarter mile south of where the airport ends (intersection of Eureka & Middlebelt Rd). I saw this on a daily basis, often passing by at 730am, and the most extreme example I saw was on Feb 20, 2015 when my car read -22F at this spot but the official DTW low was -13F. For whatever reason, the temp always reads lower on the south side of the airport than the north side (where ASOS is). The temps at DTW would consistently come up on the high end of what was reported nearby, but certainly within range. UHI is certainly a factor in big cities, but I feel its more of an "airport heat island effect" at many of the big airports. DTW has grown into a huge airport with numerous runway additions and expansions, the most recent being 2019-20. Even though the ASOS is in a well protected area, theres almost certainly a slight impact from all the nearby concrete runways, especially since the more rural and wooded areas less than a mile outside the airport property run slightly cooler 24/7. I dont feel its a major issue as long as the NWS keeps the thermometer properly calibrated, nor do I feel they should be taking temps in the microclimate of cold readings just south of the airport (as thats not representative). I simply want temps to be representative of what the nearby area is, and with most major sites being at airports its just how it goes. Snow is measured just off site at a park area...would be interesting if there was a thermometer there to compare. Once we get away from DTW to the north and west, there are big elevation difference and some more alternating of bustling areas mixed with rural mixing bowls of raditaional cooling. And then to the northeast is a marine influence. So there are so many variables at play. As long as readings are accurate, thats all I ask for. For instance, with this heat coming, id rather set a record high of 100F with dews in the 60s rather than have it be 93 with a dew of 75. But mother nature makes the call.

Exactly. Im sure he would've said this before 2013. All this talk about a warming base state and yet the very first winter after this "2023-24 warming base state" was colder than average. Seeing the magnitude of some of the cold blasts we have had since 2016, despite overall domination of milder than avg winters, really makes me disagree with his assertion. As has been said many times, you dont talk about the future in absolutes.

This is exactly what I and others mean about cherry picking. You are picking one random day where temps were 1-2F warmer at those locations than Detroit. I can assure you it wasnt close to 90F here the other day. Everyone in THIS immediate area maxed at 85 or 86. Detroits annual temp runs about 0.5-1F warmer than Ann Arbor, 2-2.5F warmer than Flint/Saginaw, and 3.5-4F warmer than White Lake. It does not mean there wont be days where DTW is cooler than the others. But my point stands. If DTW (or any site really) temps are in line with all other locations in the immediate area, I have no issue. My issue is when one random site runs 2-4F warmer than anyone else nearby with no clear reason it should (ie marine influence would be an example of an exception). Thats why the NWS ensures first order sites are properly maintained and calibrated. Its no secret that you WANT sites to run falsely warm, so when they dont, you resort to posts like this.

1983-84 was a good winter! Cold and snowy. No memorable storms but 51.8" of snow overall and temps well below avg (28th coldest on record). We saw the coldest temp on the 21st century with -21F on Jan 21 (not to be confused w/ the coldest day, Jan 19, 1994, high -4, low -20).

63, cloudy and a NW breeze at 1pm. Hard to believe whats lurking.

Just goes to show enso isn't always the culprit. After a hot September, the winter of 1881-82 was awful. Warm and snowless. Stands to this day as Detroits warmest (and 2nd least snowy) winter on record. Coming after the severe winter of 1880-81 it must've been a nightmare

Dewpoints in the mid-70s would be choking. Obviously big heat is coming, but models have constantly overdone heat for us the past several years. I dont think we see highs in the mid to upper 90s with lows in the mid to upper 70s. I feel it goes one of two ways. Either we DO see highs in the mid to upper 90s but cool off to at least the low 70s at night, OR we stay in the mid to upper 70s at night but only warm to the low 90s due to the humidity. I can see maybe one day of, say, 96/76, but not 3.

Yes, the 10-12 day August/Sept 1953 heatwave baked a massive part of the nation. It was headline news every day in the newspaper.

Completely disagree that it would take a major volcanic eruption to see a winter avg temp of 23.1F. We were 2.2F colder than that in 2014! Detroit saw a mean temp of 23.3F in 2014-15 following 20.9F in 2013-14. Now obviously its not common. The 23.1F mean temp in 1958-59 is the 18th coldest winter on record (and was at the time the coldest in 23 years). But I hate talking in absolutes about future weather. 2023-24 was a warm winter but it had been seen before. March 2012 had never been seen before.

Detroit has hit 100F 3 times in Sept- Sept 2, 1953; Sept 3, 1953; Sept 15, 1939. While the highest temp in Sept 1881 was "only" 94F (hit twice), this is by far the warmest Sept on record to this day. So much so that the 2nd warmest Sept, 1931, is a whopping 2.3F colder. The weather was unusually muggy late in the month with unheard of lows in the upper 60s to low 70s. Makes me wonder how bad the Fall color season was that year.

Picked up a total of 1.20" rain yesterday, 0.58" of which came from the evening shelf cloud thunderstorm. Definitely the best thunderstorm we have had in a long while. I saw some incredible pics from more open areas, but i was at home so wasn't able to see the cloud expand over an open area in all its glory.

Its going to be another one of those summers (and falls and winters and springs) where @TheClimateChanger spends hours and hours scouring xmacis and ncdc to find the most random, middle-of-nowhere location that he can plug into his latest cherry picked post. Its crazy, Ive lived in MI my entire life and I always thought Alpena, Standish, Saginaw etc were hours away from Detroit. But apparently, they are rural suburbs of Detroit . The actual metro-Detroit suburb temps for that day were all in the same range, 84, 85, 86, 87. The warmest temp found was 88F at White Lake, 40+ miles NW of DTW. I just want accurate readings- readings in line with nearby areas. But I guess you want the official station to come in 2-4F warmer than everywhere else.

Yeah...trust me, cold/snow are absolutely my #1. Hell the main reason I follow this thread is because as soon as one winter/snow season ends im looking forward to the next one. But heat records are interesting too, and it is summer. I have looked up tons of old newspaper articles online (I have an account where I can look at any Detroit Free Press since 1837), and i can assure you that heat, cold, snow/lack of snow etc were just as big of news stories then as they are now. The one huge difference is that back then anomalous weather was noted as such...but it wasn't blamed on anything. It was just a given that the weather always changes. And that fact, which will never change regardless of cc, is something that is sadly missed by some in the modern era.

Wait...I like to talk about heat records? Actually, I like to talk about all weather records and cold/snow far, FAR outnumber heat when it comes to what i talk about. I know my local climate history like the back of my hand. My interest is local weather history and occasionally looking up other areas for certain things, events, etc. My thing is not spending hours, days, and weeks scouring through anything on xmacis or NCDC to find some rural middle of nowhere site I can plug into my latest post. BTW....its funny that you take coop data from 1903 at face value but have an entire laundry list of what is wrong with tons of official data (if you dont like the outcome). There are two upper peninsula stations that had official weather data in 1903. On July 1, 1903 Sault Ste Marie had a high/low of 76/60 while Houghton (closer to Baraga) had a high/low of 70/52. Downstate Detroit had a high/low of 90/70 with Lansing seeing 90/63 and Grand Rapids 84/67. Highs from north to south in MI on July 1, 1903 Houghton- 70/52 Baraga- 66/20 Sault Ste Marie- 76/60 Lansing- 90/63 Grand Rapids- 84/67 Detroit- 90/70 Yup, that 20F is completely believable

Yeah and so you clearly missed the entire point of what was ORIGINALLY said. Im sure I can find cities with many below normal months since 2023. You cannot say anything on here without Bluewave and you going on a completely OT soapbox.

Im well aware of the mean temps in the warm stretch the last decade. I was wondering why you picked 27°, but i noticed in the 1948-1958 stretch the coldest winter was 26.9° lol. I look at every winter in great detail, and the past 10 years is no exception. We've had some cold months and arctic blasts, but not enough solid 3-month cold to get a big DJF temp departure (2024-25, 2021-22, & 2017-18 were slightly colder than avg). Fortunately, snowfall hasn't been anywhere NEAR a 10 year low. Much like snowfall in winter being the most important metric for me, max temps are the most important of summer. So regardless of what the summer mean temp ends up, Im more concerned with how many hot days we have vs mild muggy nights. We pretty much made it past mid June without any hot muggy weather, so I consider that a win. Todays the first real muggy day. Still doesn't mean im excited about the coming heatwave. Regarding magnitude of anomalies, summer departures will never come CLOSE to a winter departure in either extreme, so its no comparison. We had a temp departure of -14.5° in Feb 2015. Meanwhile, July 2011 (hottest on record) was +5.2°.

You missed my point. Even if a warm background state is in place it does not guarantee big heat at any individual location. I mean, good for it being 26th warmest winter for the CONUS. It wasn't anywhere near that warm here. And this summer I frankly dont care how many heat records melt away in the southwest, I just worry how much heat makes it up here.

The background state as a whole doesn't mean much for individual locations though. It's all about weather patterns. In 2023 they were getting plenty of heat to my south and west while Detroit didn't eclipse 90° all year, something not seen since 1915. This year so far saw a colder than avg Jan, a colder than avg Feb, a much warmer than avg Mar, a warmer than avg Apr, and a colder than avg May. June has been colder than avg so far but big heat lurks. Doesn't look to be long lasting though.

Im not looking forward to the heat but its been a very pleasant June so far. Plenty of cloudy days, quite a few early Fall-like temperature days, and the few warm days have come with low humidity. Ive had my windows open far more than my air on, so no complaints. You knew the heat was coming, so the longer we can delay it the shorter the unbearable part of the year will be.

They were only warmer early. They cooled down quick with plenty of ice cover by mid-winter. The overall ice cover was right around average, but Lake Erie was 100% frozen for a time.

Very pleasant June for approximately the first 3 weeks, but Sunday-Tuesday is going to suck. Its time, but its still going to suck lol.

We dont have a summer banter thread. But I thought this looked neat. 4 seasons look into my backyard (didn't have a good spring pic other than late spring).