(WWJ) – Spring is typically known for rain and thunderstorms here in Michigan, but we’ve had an interesting lack of severe weather, at least so far this season.
Why is that?
AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Thompson says the biggest reason so far this spring is that it’s been pretty cold, especially last month.
“Temperatures were running below average. April ended a little more than two degrees below average,” Thompson said live on WWJ during the weekly Weather Wednesday segment. “And if you remember, we were dealing with some snow at times throughout April, and that doesn’t really help cause severe weather.”
Severe weather thrives on temperature differences, especially on the boundaries of temperatures, like cold fronts. An area is most likely to see severe weather when it’s on the edge of cold and warm air, “and we never really were in that spot last month,” Thompson said.
And while we’ve had some warm spells in May, including temps in the 80s last week, “we just haven’t had any real setups for severe weather,” according to Thompson.
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The rest of the U.S. has has plenty of storm reports, including heavy damage from wind, hail and tornadoes. There just hasn’t been a whole lot in Michigan. Thompson says there have been only 10-20 reports of severe storms in Michigan this spring, most of which were Up North.
He says there’s been some severe weather getting into the Ohio Valley region this spring, it just hasn’t quite reached us.
“That may change here as we get into the weekend as some hot air gets into the area on Friday, cold front Saturday,” Thompson said, though he noted the severe risk doesn’t seem all that high.
AccuWeather is calling for temps to climb into the 90s on Friday, before dipping to the low 80s on Saturday and into the 60s by Sunday.
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