Above Average Temperatures for the West and Central Plains; Lake Effect Snow Continues

Well above average temperatures will prevail across the Plains and the West Coast this week, while a cold front will bring Arctic air to the South and East Coast Thursday and Friday. Lake effect snow is forecast downwind of the Great Lakes through Thursday along and behind the Arctic front, as well as mountain snow across the Southern Appalachians. Read More >

Heavy Rain Event Overview

On the evening of July 4th, 2019, a combination of an unstable atmosphere and lake breeze caused thunderstorms do develop early in the afternoon. Interactions of various outflow boundaries caused the storms nearly stall near Caledonia. This caused minor flooding as up to 5 inches of rain fell in less than 3 hours over this area. It’s worth noting, convection can bring some very localized locations heavy rainfall, like the nearly 5 inches for rain that fell on Caledonia, while just a few miles away in west Grandville only 0.04” fell during the same time. Gerald R. Ford Airport received 1.16” during this time. Note: Since most of this was at least partly the result of the lake breeze boundary interacting with the afternoon instability, areas near Lake Michigan got little or no rain in the past 3 days prior to July 4th.

On the evening of July 4th, 2019, a combination of an unstable atmosphere and lake breeze caused thunderstorms do develop early in the afternoon. Interactions of various outflow boundaries caused the storms nearly stall near Caledonia. This caused minor flooding as up to 5 inches of rain fell in less than 3 hours over this area.

It’s worth noting, convection can bring some very localized locations heavy rainfall, like the nearly 5 inches for rain that fell on Caledonia, while just a few miles away in west Grandville only 0.04” fell during the same time. Gerald R. Ford Airport received 1.16” during this time. Note: Since most of this was at least partly the result of the lake breeze boundary interacting with the afternoon instability, areas near Lake Michigan got little or no rain in the past 3 days prior to July 4th.

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Above Average Temperatures for the West and Central Plains; Lake Effect Snow Continues

July 4, 2019 Summary