GRAND RAPIDS, MI. – While most of our long holiday weekend has generally been OK weatherwise, a few showers are possible on Monday especially from Grand Rapids off to the south and west. All things considered, 2013 Memorial Day will shape up pretty good compared to previous years. Let’s take a look!
The National Weather Service compiled some number between 1897 – 2012. What they found was the warmest Memorial Day occurred in 1919 at 92 degrees. The second and third warmest were tied at 91 degrees in 2012 and 2006 respectively.
The coldest high temperature on Memorial Day occurred in 1910 at 48 degrees. The second coldest was 60 in 1995, and the third coldest was 61 degrees in 1993.
The wettest Memorial Day was in 1982 when 1.82 inches of rain fell. The second wettest was .42 inches recorded in 1982, and the third wettest occurred in 1989 when .40 inches of rain fell.
Two things to keep in mind: all the data is strictly for Grand Rapids, and remember Memorial Day does NOT occur on the same day each year…but rather on the last Monday of the month.
Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868. Flowers were placed on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery. Congress passed a law in 1971 to move the date from May 30 to the last Monday in May to allow for a three-day weekend.
