GRAND RAPIDS, MI. — We knew November was a brutal month in West Michigan for snow and cold, but now we know exactly after the National Weather Service released their official numbers looking back over the last 30 days.
Grand Rapids had record snowfall in November 2014 with 31 inches being measured. It was the snowiest November on record! Muskegon had their second snowiest November on record with 24.5 inches. If this had been an “normal/average” November Muskegon would have only seen about six inches and Grand Rapids only 6.8 inches. Compare those high lake-effect snow totals with the further inland Lansing that tallied only 6.2 inches. Further east in the Detroit metro area where only four inches fell.
But it wasn’t all about the snow…it was the seventh coldest November on record for Grand Rapids and almost all the NWS climate reporting stations in West Michigan were running about four to six degrees below normal for the month…quite the deviation!
The snow record shattered in Grand Rapids was a long standing one from way back in 1895 when it was 28.2 inches. A testament that this type of snowfall doesn’t occur very often. Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Lansing also set daily precipitation records on November 23/24.
Perhaps things could always be worse. The image attached to this story (courtesy of the Grand Rapids NWS) shows a bulls-eye of snowfall in/around the Gaylord area in northern lower Michigan of 60 inches!
While the first part of December has been and will (most likely) continue to be on the tranquil, quiet, and uneventful side of the weather fence, we may not be so lucky during the second part of the month. Make sure to stay up on later forecasts at www.fox17online.com/weather.
