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• Record-breaking warmth leading up to Halloween

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Temperatures are likely to soar near 80 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, snapping long-standing weather records. This will be achieved courtesy of a strong southwest flow with gusts upwards of 40 mph at times. Trick-or-treating forecast: Cool and breezy Here's a list of our forecast highs versus record highs on Tuesday and Wednesday: While it appears that Grand Rapids will likely fall just short of 80 degrees, if we do happen to make that threshold, it would be the second-latest 80-degree day on record, behind only Nov. 1, 1950. In addition to the good possibility of record highs, it appears that many new record lows will be set for the morning of Oct. 30. Driest start to meteorological fall since 1979 Moving beyond a disturbance that looks to drop a healthy amount of rain — especially during the morning hours of Halloween — we should revert back closer to typical autumn temperatures through the extended forecast. We'll still be adhering to the warmer end with several days in the upper 50s to mid-60s. Stay with Storm Team 8 for the latest forecast.

• Trick-or-treating forecast: Cool and breezy

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Thursday evening's weather should be decent for trick-or-treaters gathering candy in their neighborhoods. The lead-up to Halloween will bring very warm and windy weather to West Michigan, with the potential for record-breaking highs Tuesday and Wednesday. That heat will not stick around for trick-or-treating. Highs on Halloween are expected to be in the mid- to upper 60s. We'll likely reach those temperatures near midday with a slow slide downward into the evening hours as a cold front sweeps through. List: Trick-or-treat times in West Michigan A solid batch of rain will line up for Halloween, with anticipated totals ranging between 0.25 inches and 0.75 inches, but fortunately it appears most of the rain will happen through the morning hours. 8 am Radar Imagery Rain exits east through the late afternoon The chance of rain will subside by the time we reach the trick-or-treating window, with just a couple stray leftover showers. The wind will remain strong, with gusts in the 25 mph to 30 mph range from the northwest. An extra layer under or over the costumes is encouraged. A snapshot of wind gusts at 6 p.m. Thursday. Haunted houses to visit this Halloween season Mostly cloudy skies are favored during the late afternoon and evening as we cool down from the lower 50s into the mid-40s by the time trick-or-treating wraps up. A stray leftover shower can't be ruled out. The pavement will likely be wet in the wake of the rain, so make sure that little ones are walking carefully. A typical Halloween in West Michigan delivers highs in the mid-50s, lows in the upper 30s and occasional rain showers. Stay with Storm Team 8 as the forecast continues to come into clearer focus.

• Tropical Update

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) October 28, 2024 - This has been a very active hurricane season in the Atlantic/Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico. We've had 15 named storms, including 10 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes (category 3 or higher). Hurricane Milton will be the strongest hurricane of 2024 in the Atlantic Sector. Peak winds with the storm briefly reached an estimated 180 mph. The storm made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida and produced peak wind gusts of 90-105 mph on land. Since Milton, we've had "Nadine", which was a tropical storm from October 19-20. It came onshore near Belize City. There were five fatalities, from flooding, landslides and one where someone touched a live electrical wire. Quintana Roo reported 3.5" of rain. Interesting note: The remnants of Nadine crossed Central America and regenerated as Hurricane "Kristy" in the Pacific Ocean. After Nadine we had Hurricane "Oscar" from October 19-22. It had peak winds of 85 mph and hit eastern Cuba. There were seven fatalities and significant flooding as the storm moved northeast and weakened, avoiding the U.S., but producing some heavy rainfall in the Bahamas. The next two storm (if they develop) will be called "Patty", then "Rafael". The orange hatched area in the Caribbean has (as I write this early Monday) a 40% chance of developing into a tropical storm. The Hurricane Center says: Southwestern Caribbean Sea:
  A broad area of low pressure is likely to develop over the
  southwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days. Gradual development is
  possible thereafter, and a tropical depression could form late
  this week or over the weekend while the system begins to drift
  northward or northeastward over the southwestern and south-central
  Caribbean Sea.
  * Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
  * Formation chance through 7 days...medium...40 percent. Here's a satellite pic. of the Atlantic. There are two areas that forecasters are tracking in the Eastern Pacific. NHC says: Western East Pacific (EP91):
  A broad area of low pressure located more than 1000 miles southwest
  of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is producing
  disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions
  appear conducive for gradual development of this system, and a
  tropical depression is likely to form within the next few days while
  it moves westward or west-northwestward at about 15 mph over the
  western portion of the eastern Pacific basin. This system is
  expected to move into the central Pacific basin by the end of the
  week.
  * Formation chance through 48 hours...low...30 percent.
  * Formation chance through 7 days...high...70 percent.
  
  The second area (outlined in yellow on the map above) has only a 20% chance of development. Here's the Eastern Pacific Tropical Discussion in English and in Spanish. Cancun Mexico radar early Wednesday PM The map above is the Central Pacific Ocean (with Hawaii in the middle of the map). We continue to track the possible formation of a tropical storm well southeast of Hawaii. It will be over a week until this system were to reach Hawaii, if it does at all. Here's Southern U.S. combined satellite and radar. Current satellite picture of the entire U.S. The graphic above shows the average number of hurricanes and tropical storms from May through December. The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season was Sept. 10. Now we're on the downhill climatologically. Few major hurricanes occur in November. The hurricane season ends Nov. 30th. Here's a summary of tropical storm and hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific so far this year. Here's a satellite view of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. There is one tropical storm called "Kong-Rey". It should reach hurricane strength as it moves toward Taiwan. Then it weakens as it curves to the northeast. Here's the forecast path of Kong-Rey...toward Taiwan and brushing mainland China. This looks to be a curving typhoon (in the western Pacific). After a curving typhoon, there is often a trend toward cooler weather (relative to average) in the eastern U.S. We'll have to watch for that around Nov. 10-15. A fairly weak tropical disturbance ("Trami") will fade as it moves west into Viet Nam near Da Nang. It will likely produce some heavy rain and local flooring. Once again, the tropical Indian Indian Ocean is quiet. Here's the latest ACE Index, a measure of the number and strength of tropical storms and hurricanes. The North Atlantic Sector has jumped up to a cumulative season ACE of 145.3. That compares to an average ACE-to-date of 113.7. So, that's 128% of average ACE-to-date. Of that 145.3 ACE, 35.1 of that came from long-lived hurricane Beryl. Hurricane Helene accumulated only 7.1 ACE Points because it was only a hurricane for two days. Two other named storms, Alberto and Chris were much smaller and short-lived and then we had Debby, which was a Category 1 storm and Ernesto, that gave 84 mph winds to the island of Bermuda. Francine added a little to the Atlantic ACE as came ashore and hit Mississippi and Louisiana. Tropical Storm "Gordon" reached tropical storm status for 2 days in the mid-Atlantic. It did not affect land areas. We then had hurricane "Kirk" and hurricane "Leslie", followed by "Milton", "Nadine" and "Oscar". All other global sectors have well below ACE-to-date figures. It was the quietest start ever for the eastern Pacific. The ACE in the eastern Pacific sector is currently at just 81.5. Average-to-date ACE for this sector is 129.5. That's just 63% of average ACE-to-date. The Western Pacific Ocean Sector has an ACE-to-date of 126.1, compared to an average ACE-to-date of 249.7. This is just 50.5% of average ACE-to-date. The North Indian Ocean has an ACE-to-date of 6.3, again well below the average ACE-to-date of 13.2. If you take the entire globe, you get a current ACE-to-date of 360.5. That compares to an average ACE-to-date of 508.4 and that's just 70.9% of average ACE-to-date. So, while we've had an active year for hurricanes in the U.S. and the Atlantic Sector, if you look at the entire globe, this has been a relatively quiet year for tropical activity. Keep coming back to Bill's Blog for tropical updates.

• Grand Rapids has first fall freeze, near record highs coming soon

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — For the first time this autumn season, Grand Rapids fell to a low temperature of 32 degrees or below Sunday morning. This officially ends the growing season at 185 days with the last spring freeze occurring on April 25. It's the latest first sub-freezing temperature to occur during the fall season in Grand Rapids since 2007. We'll rapidly switch things up as the week continues. Monday will be mostly sunny and seasonable with highs ranging from the upper 50s into the lower 60s. Early Tuesday morning, warmer air will work in, producing a short burst of rainfall and sparking off a couple windy days and lifting temperatures into near-record territory. Above is a look at forecast highs on Tuesday and Wednesday versus previous records for the dates of Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

• Driest start to meteorological fall since 1979

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Rain has been limited over the past several weeks, causing drought conditions to become worse in West Michigan. The latest Drought Monitor update has an expansion of abnormally dry (yellow) and moderate drought (tan) observations throughout West Michigan. Much of Kent County as well as Barry, Ionia, Montcalm and Mecosta counties now have moderate drought. Under that classification, well levels are expected to decline and plants and Christmas trees become stressed. ‘Please don’t burn,’ fire specialist says amid dry weather Only a segment of Muskegon and Oceana counties, where a burst of heavy rain happened in September, are excluded from drought. Storm Team 8 Forecast In Grand Rapids, there have only been seven days with measurable rainfall since the start of meteorological fall, which runs from Sept. 1 through Dec. 1. With only 2.20 inches of precipitation, it's the seventh driest start to meteorological fall on record. It's the driest 53-day period of Sept. 1 through Oct. 23 since 1979. A substantial shortfall in precipitation is being observed for many West Michigan cities. Early Halloween forecast: It’s complicated Moving forward, there's a solid chance of rain developing late Thursday night carrying forward through Friday morning. Forecast models are in consensus on approximately .25 to .5 inches in Grand Rapids. The greatest totals are expected to be near and south of I-96. Another chance of rain develops near the middle of next week in the lead up to Halloween.

• Halloween forecast: morning rain, cool evening

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — With Halloween less than one week away, the forecast is slowly coming into focus for West Michigan. First, the good news: This year is likely to be significantly better than 2023, which saw its coldest Halloween since 1996 as trick-or-treaters trudged through up to a foot of snow. Forecast trending toward faster cold front One of the biggest forecast questions over the past several days has been the timing of a cold frontal passage on Halloween. A morning passage would lead to rain clearing out by evening, along with cooler trick-or-treating temperatures. An afternoon or evening passage would lead to warmer, but rainy conditions. The morning cold frontal passage currently appears more likely than a late-day timing. That's expected to lead to early morning rain showers. Cloudy conditions are likely to hang around , with temperatures falling through the day. Trick-or-treating temperatures may drop as low as the low-mid 40s, along with a northwest breeze. If forecast data begins to shift back toward a later cold front arrival, the chance for trick-or-treating rainfall will increase. List: Trick-or-treat times in West Michigan A typical Halloween in West Michigan features highs in the mid-50s, lows in the upper 30s and occasional rain showers. Haunted houses to visit this Halloween season While the broad details are becoming clearer, there are still elements of the forecast that have yet to be determined. Stay with Storm Team 8 through next week as the forecast comes into clearer focus.

• Snowstorm hits Alaska and Power Out on the Island of St. Croix

  Nearly a foot of snow has fallen in the Fairbanks, Alaska area. It was a heavy, wet snowfall that brought down tree limbs and wires. Over 3,000 customers lost power. Some schools had two snow days Monday and Tuesday (pic. above from the Fairbanks NWS). The Fairbanks Airport reported 11" of snow on the ground. So far this October, they have had 15.7" of snowfall. That's more than 3 times the average snowfall-to-date. This is the second year in a row with much above average snowfall in Fairbanks in October. Meteorologists had to clear the snow off the radome. Records for most daily precipitation were set in Fairbanks, Tanana, Battles and on the coast at Nome. Fairbanks had more than SIX TIMES the old record. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Also, as I type this, the entire island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands is without power early this Wednesday morning. The power went out on St. Croix early Monday - schools were canceled and government buildings were closed. Power was evidently restored, then it went out again. The islands’ Water and Power Authority said that there was a loss of power generation at the Estate Richmond Power Plant around daybreak Monday. Island-wide power outages have become increasingly common on the island of St. Croix, where more than 41,000 people live. Officials have said the largest generator is inefficient and runs solely on diesel fuel and that the smaller units are older, not frequently maintained and not able to withstand the additional load when the largest one fails. Cuba also continues to have power generation issues. ALSO: Check out the "permanent cloud" generated by the Rock of Gibraltar. Gibraltar isn't all that high (1,398 feet above sea level) relative to other mountains).

• 10/26 Sat. – Update on Hurricanes Helene and Milton – Power Outage Restoration

  As of Saturday AM October 26, there are still some areas that have not had power restored in the wake of Hurricanes Helene (made landfall near Perry, Florida in the Big Bend area on September 26th - one month ago) and Milton (made landfall at Siesta Key south of Tampa on October 9 - half a month ago). The top picture shows some of the hundreds of power restoration crews that were prepositioned by the state of Florida ready to head out and deal with power outages once the hurricane winds subsided. There were 14,500 crew members in this effort. Crews were also brought in from other states that were not affected by the storms, with crews coming to Florida from as far away as New England. Here's a look at power outages Saturday 10/26/24 in North Carolina North Carolina has 4,958 customers without power. Not all of these outages are hurricane-related. In North Carolina, Yancey Co. still has 2,781 customers without power. That's only down 428 in the last 48 hours. Many of the current outages are due to homes/buildings that have washed away and can't be reconnected to the power grid at this time. Mitchell Co. is down to 217 customers without power. That's a drop of just 100 customers in the last 48 hours. (images and data from http://poweroutages.us.). Florida quickly made great progress in restoring electricity. Approximately 3.5 million customers have had power restored. There are still 3017 customers without power. Most of these outages are not hurricane-related. Today (Sat.) the county with the most significant customer outages was Collier Co., down near Fort Myers with 956 customers without power. The hurricane response in Florida has been impressive. Friday evening (9/27), Florida had 1,231,511 customers without power after Hurricane Helene. A week later and Florida was down to around 5,000 customers without power. A handful of Florida counties were hit with 80-100 mph winds that downed thousands of trees and brought down not just wires, but many utility poles. Buildings were destroyed or severely damaged and it's impossible at this time to reconnect power to those buildings. Last Wednesday AM, the place with the most power outages was the Virgin Islands, where the entire island of St. Croix was without power. The power was on on the other 2 main islands (St. Thomas and St. John). The power went out on St. Croix early Monday - schools were canceled and government buildings were closed. Power was evidently restored, then it went out again. The islands’ Water and Power Authority said that there was a loss of power generation at the Estate Richmond power plant around daybreak Monday. Island-wide power outages have become increasingly common on the island of St. Croix, where more than 41,000 people live. Officials have said the largest generator is inefficient and runs solely on diesel and that the smaller units are older, not frequently maintained and not able to withstand the additional load when the largest one fails. You can also see a significant number of power outages in California and also in the Fairbanks, Alaska area, where the season's first heavy, wet snow has brought down some power lines. Here's another pic. of the Alaska snow. Fairbanks had 11" of snow on the ground last Monday and schools closed due to the snow. **************************************************************************************************** Note, a powerful windstorm swept across Montana Friday Sept. 27th, leaving nearly 12,000 customers without power. Measured wind gusts in Montana included 80 mph at Lothair,, 79 mph at the National Weather Service Office in Great Falls, 79 mph west of Havre, 77 mph at Glacier N.P. an 74 mph near Cutbank. Here's a link to a list of peak wind gusts. Numerous trees and power lines were toppled. In North Carolina especially, utility work couldn't proceed in areas that are still flooded. In some cases, roads have been repaired so crews can access downed wires and poles can be replaced. California always seems to have outages. Last week they jumped up to over 30,000 customers without power. They have outages (some intentional) due to fires and fire danger and also due to heat overloading the system (again some intentional outages). Nearly 250 deaths have been confirmed with Hurricane Helene. They are up to 72 fatalities in Buncombe Co., North Carolina alone. Also, nine people drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area in Pinellas County, Florida. Thousands of people are homeless. Some homes were literally carried away by the floodwaters. There were hundreds of water rescues, including the dramatic rescue in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday. There are still a few people that are missing and a few of the flood victims have not been identified. The East Tennessee football team rode a bus for 16 hours to get to their game with The Citadel in South Carolina. In Atlanta, 11.12 inches of rain fell in 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878. Asheville NC had 13.98" of rain in 3 days from Sept. 25-27. Moody’s Analytics said it expects property damage from Helene will total $15 billion to $26 billion dollars. Donate to American Red Cross relief efforts To assist in the response to Helene, our parent company, Nexstar Media, is partnering with The American Red Cross to help with relief efforts. Donations to the Red Cross are critical for relief efforts from this storm and future disasters. People looking to donate to the American Red Cross as they assist those affected by Hurricane Helene can do so by clicking here. Donations can be made by mail or by phone. Visit Nexstar’s donations page at RedCross.org to learn more about contributing. There are many other fine organizations helping with the relief efforts, including the Salvation Army, Samaritan's Purse and Catholic Charities.

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Chief Meteorologist Ellen Bacca (and husband Mark) welcomed their first child over the weekend, with the birth of Piper Sunny. Check out these sweet pictures<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane Lee continues to slowly track toward the United States. Click here for the latest on intensity and path<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday brought plenty of sunshine and calm conditions. Bill’s Blog dives into what is currently the calmest day of 2023.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEATHER WEAR<\/strong>
Rain Jacket
Umbrella<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TODAY<\/strong>
Widespread Rain Developing
Pockets of Locally Heavy Rain
HIGH:<\/strong> 67
LOW:<\/strong> 55
WINDS: SE 5-10 mph<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUNRISE<\/strong> 7:17 a.m.
SUNSET<\/strong> 7:59 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TODAY<\/strong> Take along the rain jacket and umbrella as you head out the door, as widespread rain will be rolling through the area today. The most concentrated rain will prevail during the morning hours, with the rain becoming more scattered in nature late in the day. Amounts will range from 0.10-0.50+ and will likely be localized. Otherwise, expect overcast skies and highs in the mid-upper 60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TUESDAY<\/strong> – WEDNESDAY<\/strong> Scattered showers continue for most of Tuesday before tapering off Wednesday morning. Cooler temperatures arrive with highs in the low to mid-60s. It will be breezy as winds come from the north at 10-20 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THURSDAY <\/strong> Cool and quiet conditions will prevail with more sunshine and highs in the mid-upper 60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRIDAY <\/strong> Plenty of sunshine is on tap, with slightly warmer air returning to the area. Afternoon highs will reach the mid-70s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEEKEND WEATHER<\/strong> Sunshine will continue to dominate over the weekend, with highs in the low-mid 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOOKING AHEAD<\/strong> The overall pattern remains mostly dry and warmer than “average” into the fourth week of September, with the 8 to 14 day outlook placing West Michigan in a drier and warmer-than-normal pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n