GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The question most members of Storm Team 8 had to field lately is “who stole spring?”
By April 20, 2017, the temperature exceeded 56 degrees 16 times with seven days warmer than 70 degrees. One of those days reached a high of 80 degrees.
In March, the temperature was 1.3 degrees below average and it did exceed 56 degrees in West Michigan. The cool March was followed by an even colder April.
April temperatures first half of the month.
In the first half of April, the temperatures were more than 10 degrees below average. As of April 19, temperatures were more than 11 degrees below average.
In the past 21 days, 20 have been colder than average. Fourteen of those 20 days have been at least 10 degrees colder than average.
The first half of April was the third coldest on record. The last time Grand Rapids had a colder start to April was 36 years ago in 1982. For perspective, it was President Ronald Regan’s first term, the Amway Grand Plaza wasn’t built yet and five of the seven members of the on-air Daybreak team were born yet.
The coldest start to a year was when 1975 then followed by 1982. Both years, the temperatures warmed up significantly for the second half of April.
April 2018 is on track to be one of the coldest, if not the coldest ever.
With the cold came the snow. Grand Rapids has received six inches for the month, which exceeds March’s total. A snowier April than March has only happened twelve times.