Wonderful Wednesday Leads To A Warm Weekend!

Good Morning!


A cool start to another seasonably mild day for South Central Michigan, with abundant blue skies, pleasant conditions, and no rain.  Lows rolled back into the 40's in many spots across the blog last night.  You don't see that headed into mid-June too often this far south in Michigan!  That no rain situation I just mentioned is becoming a concern, as more watering is the only way to keep things green and growing, and the risk of brush fires is slowly creeping up as well.  No organized rain in sight for the next several days.  That's good news for those with outdoor activities, including race weekend, and bad news for those growing things, such as farmers.  Let's take a deeper dive and see what's going on...


TEMPERATURES:  Canadian high pressure has rolled in and parked itself on top of us.  As a result, northeasterly winds today keep our temperatures in the low 70's and humidity down.  It's a perfect day for any outdoor activity. After this, temperatures start climbing, and by Friday, as that high pressure center moves east, putting us into southwesterly flow, temperatures top out in the upper 80's in time for race weekend, with a 90 or two a possibility.  More on that for the area around Michigan International Speedway in the RaceCAST below.  Going into the new week, things look much warmer, with a heat dome indicated by computer modeling putting us into 90 degree territory around midweek.


RAIN:  Hmph.  Not anywhere close to us.  The next five days still look dry for South Central Michigan, though the GFS computer model wants to bring just a smidge of moisture in here on Sunday.  For me, we stay dry, and if by chance we do stumble across some rain, looking at it now, you'll see an isolated shower pop up after lunchtime on Sunday, wring itself dry, then dissipate.  If you look at the latest five day precipitation map from the National Weather Service, you see that we aren't bone dry anymore, but we only get a little bit through this area, with more rain forecast as you head west.  This is valid through 8AM Monday.

With the dry conditions, the National Weather Service office in Northern Indiana has issued a Special Weather Statement for Branch and Hillsdale counties.  It doesn't fit any official criteria per se, such as a Red Flag Warning, but the message text seeks to raise awareness of dry and breezy conditions increasing the chance of a brush fire or wildfire if given a spark.  I'll post that separately.  For lack of a better term, i'll call it a Fire Risk Advisory.  That is MY title for it, not the National Weather Service's.


SEVERE WEATHER:  The Storm Prediction Center says nothing in Michigan the next three days. Can't really say too much beyond that.  Just a general risk of plain vanilla thunderstorms in the western Upper Peninsula tomorrow.  "Slight" risk areas up in the northern Plains today, along with TX, OK, CO, NM and KS.  That moves into the northern edge of Tornado Alley tomorrow, and a small 5% risk area in the central US, spreading into WY and MT on Friday.  That's it.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

RaceCAST:  I've seen the buses and campers slowly trickling into the Brooklyn/Jackson area of the blog's South Zone as they converge on Michigan International Speedway, and any that aren't already here will show up today or tomorrow I'm sure.  Race fans will have a nice couple of days to relax around MIS before things rev up this weekend.  Clear skies through early Saturday, then a mix of clouds and sunshine for the races each day.  Temperatures top out in the upper 80's, however local to the track, I would not at all be surprised to see 91 with heat index values around 94.  Lows should be around 60 both Friday and Saturday night.  Rain chances are pretty much non-existent, but owing to the GFS showing a touch of dampness on Sunday, for now,  I will leave a small chance at an isolated shower in the forecast.


Grand Rapids NEXRAD radar is quiet, and the visible satellite shows nothing but a few wispy clouds out over Lake Michigan.

Here's the local forecast for Jackson and surrounding communities including Pleasant Lake and Parma:


For today, sunny skies with a passing cloud here and there, cooler than normal but still pleasant, a great day for outdoor activity with a high of 74, winds NE 5-10 MPH.


Tonight, mainly starry skies, a few clouds float by, lows roll all the way back to 46, winds E 5-10 MPH.


Thursday, continued sunny with a couple of lonely clouds floating by, warmer, another winner, high 78, winds ESE 7-14 MPH.


Thursday night, more clear skies, not quite as cool, lows around 52, winds ESE 5-10 MPH.


Friday, bright blue skies and warmer still, highs reach 85.


Saturday, mainly sunny to start, a few clouds start mixing in later in the day, very warm with a high of 89.


Sunday, periods of clouds and sunshine, just a slight chance at an isolated shower, high 87.


Monday, clouds and sunshine continue to mix and match during the day, still the outside chance at a lone shower, high 85.


That's a look at your forecast for the next six days, I do hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! Blessings.