DETROIT – We’ve now closed the books on September, and we finished as the thirteenth driest September in recorded Detroit weather history (records date back to 1874). The month’s total rainfall of 0.91 inch was well below the thirty-year average of 3.27 inches. Take a look at this chart of days it rained last month:
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As you can see, we only had rain on six of the thirty days, but that’s not the whole story: 0.80 inch of our 0.91 total inch fell on two days, the 4th and the 19th. That means that we received only 0.11 inch of rain on the remaining twenty-eight days. That’s why we’re bone dry right now and desperately need some rain.
The latest Drought Monitor categorizes the western half of our area as Abnormally Dry, and western Ingham County toward Grand Rapids as Moderate Drought.
We do have some rain chances this week…let’s hope that they pan out with something meaningful, as opposed to many of our opportunities last month.
Tonight will be mostly clear, but not as cold, with lows in the lower 50s (11 degrees Celsius). Light southeast wind.
Mostly sunny on Tuesday and even warmer, with highs in the mid to upper 70s (25 degrees Celsius). South wind at 8 to 13 mph.
Tuesday’s sunrise is at 7:33 a.m., and Tuesday’s sunset is at 7:11 p.m.
Increasing clouds Tuesday night, with lows in the low 60s (17 degrees Celsius).
Mostly cloudy on Wednesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms as a cold front crosses the area. Let’s hope we get some much-needed downpours! Highs in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius).
Showers end by late Wednesday night, with lows in the low 60s (16 degrees Celsius).
Partly or mostly cloudy on Thursday, depending upon how far south the Wednesday cold front travels before stalling out. Highs in the low 70s (22-23 degrees Celsius).
We have a chance of showers on Friday as a wave of low pressure potentially travels along the aforementioned front and bumps it back farther north. Highs in the upper 60s (20 degrees Celsius).
Saturday is the big Michigan – Michigan State game in Ann Arbor (a night game for the first time in the rivalry’s history), and the computer models differ greatly in the handling of that pesky front. It appears that we have a pretty good chance for some showers, but the timing remains highly questionable. Highs should be in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius), but how warm we get obviously will be impacted on how early (or late) the rain arrives. Given that today is only Monday, this uncertainty is not surprising, and I’ll keep you updated through the week. At this point, Sunday looks nice, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius).