GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Whenever you hit a record cold temperature in late December, you know it’s cold.
Wednesday morning’s low of -12 degrees in Grand Rapids not only was the first subzero temperature of 2017; it also eclipsed the previous low temperature of -5 set in 1993 and is the coldest temperature on record since December 1983, when temperatures plunged to -18 degrees. West Michigan’s also dropped to -11 twice in 1989.
Grand Rapids actually dipped to -12 at 8:32 a.m. Wednesday, so it did not register in the readings below, as lows are typically reported earlier in the morning.
Map: Observed low temperatures in Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.
Map: Regional low temperatures on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.
WHY IS IT SO COLD?
West Michigan has the perfect recipe for frigid cold temperatures: a decent snow pack (5 inches in Grand Rapids and 9 inches in Muskegon) and a very light or calm wind.
With a massive area of high pressure drifting across the southern Great Lakes, we will see a mostly calm wind Wednesday night that will shift from the southeast, pushing any lake-effect snow and clouds hovering above land to over Lake Michigan.
Map: High pressure has set up over Great Lakes.
West Michigan could set another subzero record Thursday morning. The record low temperature for Dec. 28 is -9 degrees for Grand Rapids and -5 degrees in Muskegon, both set in 2000. What’s interesting is how forecast models vary in how low we will go this Thursday.
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