GRAND RAPIDS — Some love the thought of having one of the snowiest Decembers on record, others…not so much. According to data from the National Weather Service, Grand Rapids has now fallen in to the eighth position for all time snowiest Decembers with 31.5″. For the record Lansing and Muskegon (the other two climatological reporting stations) are not in the top ten yet.
Since we have the chance at picking up more accumulating snow on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, it’s possible we may launch ourselves in to a higher position before we say goodbye to 2013. The seventh snowiest year was 1970 with 33.3″, the sixth was 1983 with 34.8″, and the fifth snowiest was 2009 with 35.4″. It certainly is possible to make the fifth of sixth position in GR by midnight Wednesday.
Snowfall aside, the better news are the above freezing temperatures we had today (Friday). Most highs made the mid/upper 30s giving the accumulated ice from the storm a chance to finally melt off power lines and branches. Most low temps won’t dip below 32 overnight, and highs on Saturday will make the upper 30s to near 40 again. This will give road crews (as well as the rest of us) to scrap our sidewalks and driveways back down to the pavement before another Arctic blast arrives on Monday!
A word of caution…don’t park your vehicle under radio or TV towers, gutters, or trees with melting ice. Falling ice can be a hazard and can potentially deadly (a projectile falling through the air from above at a high rate of speed). Wait until Sunday or Monday until we can melt off most of the accumulated ice from the storm earlier in the week.
The attached photo is a gorgeous shot from Rich Vanderbaan taken in downtown Grand Rapids at Rosa Parks Circle and the ice rink just before Christmas. Make sure to post your photos to our FOX 17 Facebook page.
If you’d like more information on snow totals, click here to head to the National Weather Service site. As always, get the complete West Michigan forecast by going to www.fox17online.com/weather.
