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New Station All-Time High

On Labor Day (9/4/23) our station recorded a maximum temperature of 95.7° which eclipsed our previous all-time high of 95.2° on June 6, 2021. We have been (unofficially) recording weather at this location since July 2015.

Our maximum heat index on Monday 9/4 was 102°. The dewpoint topped out at 72°. It was a very muggy day by Upper Michigan standards (dewpoints typically in the 40s/50s in early September).

Got a Little Rain Last Night…

Last night around 9 PM EDT, we experienced a deluge of rain during a severe thunderstorm. Our automatic tipping spoon recorded the second highest rain rate in the 8 years we’ve been online (10.7″/hr). Overall, we picked up just over 1.5″ of rain in half an hour with about 1″ falling in the first 15 minutes of the storm.

We clocked a 37 mph wind gust during the storm. However, each wind measurement must last up to 2.5 seconds to be recorded by our system. It’s quite possible higher, shorter-lived winds were present during that storm as radar had indicated up to 60 mph gusts according to the severe thunderstorm alert issued by the National Weather Service.

There was lightning aplenty but no hail. We got quite the hail storm on Saturday July 22nd. The entire property was coated with pea size pellets.

Marquette is running WELL above normal for July rainfall. So far 4.89″ has been recorded by our automatic gauge (which is checked against a manual gauge daily). Marquette’s 30-year normal rainfall for July is 2.77″.

Incidentally, the third highest rain rate in our history (9.75″/hr) was recorded less than two weeks ago on July 15th when we picked up 0.64″ for the day.

Hazardous AQI Due to Neighbor Burning Trash

Just a note…

If you are curious why we experienced an AQI (Air Quality Index) over 400 during the lunch hour it’s because my neighbor was burning trash. Otherwise, the air quality has been good to moderate today.

Researchers sometimes come to the site and examine the Weather History for a given day — sometimes years afterward — and might furrow their brow at such an extreme outlier not recorded by any other nearby station. Hopefully they find this blog post.

The Great Pre-Christmas Blizzard of ’22

The pre-Christmas winter weather event began with two days of moderate snow & relatively calm winds (12/21-22). We were under a “Winter Weather Advisory” during the front side of the area of low pressure. Once the center of the low passed to our south, winds flipped to the northwest, and the blizzard warning began (1 AM 12/23) which lasted until 1 AM 12/25.

While our maximum wind gust of 38 mph on 12/23 was nowhere near a record for our station, that day ended as the windiest day in station history (7.5 years in service) based on sustained winds. The following day was our 4th windiest.

Continue reading “The Great Pre-Christmas Blizzard of ’22”

Winter Storm Wrap-up (2/21/22 – 2/23/22)

After 50+ hours of snowfall, the sun finally appeared this afternoon!

This was a storm for the record books on parts of the Lake Superior Plateau (Negaunee area) where they received over 37″!

Down closer to the lake, we measured 18.3″ between 8 AM Monday the 21st and 5 PM Wednesday the 23rd. Meanwhile, the city’s official station recorded 13.5″ from 8 AM Monday to 8 AM Wednesday (we only recorded an additional 0.6″ after 7 AM). No daily or monthly records appear to have been set in Marquette.

Yes, “Twosday” (2/22/22) was by far the snowiest day of any February in our 5 years of measuring snow. In fact, that day ties 12/01/2019 for the snowiest one-day total on our record books. However, the December day produced 1.44″ of melted snow. Whereas yesterday the snow only melted down to 0.65″. Much lighter snow this time around! You can thank the colder temps for that — something you might have thought you’d never do.

It appears this was a very elevation-dependent storm system with Big Bay recording 20″ and similar numbers as ours from a station in Harvey close to the lake. Further up in Trowbridge (elevation: ~1000′), we see totals approaching 2 feet. That all makes sense since the lake definitely played a big part in the storm. Lake-effect (or enhanced) snowfall is quite subject to forces of elevation. For reference, we are 100′ higher than the official COOP station in Marquette, which partially explains our higher snowfall totals (generally, in fact).

Not for nothing, the website quadrupled it’s normal traffic on the 23rd! Google really likes our snowfall measurements and weather history pages. Many thanks to our dedicated visitors who encourage us to keep marching out into the wind-driven snow to take those measurements all winter long!

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