winter weather

Updated 3/14/19: As a "bomb cyclone" prepares to hit parts of the upper Midwest, we're re-sharing this explainer about what a bomb cyclone is exactly.

Original Post: Parts of Michigan could experience winds up to 50 miles per hour this weekend, thanks to a weather phenomenon called explosive cyclogenesis. You might have heard it called a bomb cyclone or bombogenesis in other media and weather reports.

Winter weather has been disrupting High School sports schedules more than usual this year.

Dozens of school districts have canceled classes and other events, including sports, this year as the polar vortex sent temperatures plunging in January and winter storms have sent snow drifts deepening in February. 

Homeless shelters across Michigan expect to be full again Thursday evening as there’s one more night of bitter cold temperatures in the forecast.

Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan operates shelters in Saginaw and Bay City. The shelters house dozens of single men and families.

With record low temperatures hitting the Midwest this week, warming centers are open in communities across Michigan. But in smaller towns, businesses are stepping up to provide a place to escape the cold.

Another year, another frigid January in Michigan. Once again, temperatures are set to reach extreme lows over the next week. Scientists predict this extreme winter weather could be the new normal for the Midwest, thanks to climate change.

Some of us still need some clarification on how climate change is making winter worse, so we're republishing this story from the last time it reached these low temperatures in January 2018.

With wind chill advisories across most of Michigan, most of us will be experiencing temperatures close to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. While the temperature is expected to increase throughout the day, when it's windy and this cold, your body will start to lose heat faster than it can produce it.

Southern lower Michigan didn’t get a white Christmas in 2018. In fact, it hardly got any snow at all in December, with snow totals falling way below average across the region.

My Dad let me use a car for the winter term of my senior year at Michigan Tech. It not only was a generous thing to do, it was also very smart, saving him from making multiple trips between Flint and the hinterlands of the Upper Peninsula to drop me off and pick me up.

It did, however, come at a cost.

Some West Michigan residents are being advised to keep their water running this winter.

Kalamazoo and Muskegon Heights issued frozen water advisories this week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says colder-than-normal temperatures will continue in Michigan through mid-January, at least. That's as far as their models can reliably predict. Long-range models suggest temperatures might return to normal toward the end of the month, but those predictions are not very accurate. That's according to Richard Otto, a meteorologist with NOAA's weather prediction center in College Park, Maryland.

Planning your next winter excursion in Michigan could get harder this year. 

Unusually warm temperatures throughout the state, including record highs in certain areas over the weekend, have led tourism experts and representatives to question whether enough snow will stay on the ground to support outdoor activities. 

Michigan has seen particularly warm weather the past few days, and one person taking notice is the University of Michigan's head football coach Jim Harbaugh. 

On his weekly radio show, Harbaugh talked about recruiting prospective candidates and why he loves living in Michigan. He also joked that global warming could help the football team's recruitment efforts, according to MLive's Nick Baumgardner:

Thanks to continuing cold temperatures and snowfall, Michigan is not yet done with skiing for the season.

Three mountains will be open this weekend: Mount Bohemia, Boyne Mountain, and Ski Brule. Bohemia is reopening after closing this past week, while Boyne and Brule have yet to close.

Parts of the Upper Peninsula have seen unusually high snowfall this month. Marquette, MI is already having the fifth-snowiest April on record, with over 32 inches of snow already, according to the local division of the National Weather Service. 

Lake Michigan may have waves measuring up to 25 feet tall today and tonight due to the winter storm that’s currently hitting the state.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service for Lake Michigan issued a marine storm warning, which warns of winds of 48 to 53 knots. The service has also issued storm warnings across the state, cautioning difficulties with traveling, potential power outages, and potential school or event closures spanning from Wednesday to Thursday.

Saturday's snowstorm broke records across Michigan.

Howell got the most snow with 16.8 inches, but most of us woke up to a snowy blanket. Chilly, yes, but drifting flakes on Saturday and a sunny Sunday made for a beautiful first snowfall. 

Here's what you shared with us on Instagram and Twitter. 

Yes, we're expecting freezing temperatures in much of Michigan and even snow in the Upper Peninsula this weekend, but call your bookmaker (or, rather, your weather futures trader) and plop down your bet on what might happen this winter.

Everyone knows this has been a brutally cold winter in Michigan.

And not just for people.

Polar cold temps have resulted in Michigan lakes and rivers icing over to record degrees. That’s left little open water for ducks to feed.

DETROIT - Bitterly cold weather is expected to persist across Michigan into the weekend.

Temperatures moderated from Sunday and Monday's deep freeze, with readings Tuesday morning ranging from 8 below zero in Monroe to 18 above in Ludington. Highs were expected in the low 20s.

Our climate is already changing in the Great Lakes region. And people who manage our cities are finding ways to adapt.

“We’re seeing changes in our precipitation patterns; we’re seeing more extreme precipitation events, " says Beth Gibbons, the director of the University of Michigan’s Climate Center. Her group has released a new online tool for cities in the region. 

The record-setting cold that gripped Michigan last winter continues to leave its mark. There are still ice floes showing up on the shore of Lake Superior.  

Maybe you’ve seen the pictures on social media and wondered if they were even real.

But it’s true.

Some of the warmest temperatures of the year are drawing people to the beach in the Upper Peninsula, where over the weekend they found abundant ice floating just offshore at Marquette.

Spring is here and warmer air has finally come to the region, but we're still surrounded by five refrigerators – the five Great Lakes.

Lake Michigan broke a record this past winter for total ice coverage, so you know there won't be many people swimming in the lake over Memorial Day weekend.

The lakes will, however, have plenty of fisherman on them. And with the cold water and warm air, they might experience fog.

But have you ever seen a fog bank like this?

Warmer temperatures may help break ice jams that have kept about a hundred homes and businesses in Jackson from having running water.

The deep freeze that gripped the state in January froze the pipes linking city water mains to more than 150 homes and businesses in Jackson. The problem is many of the lines were not buried below the frost line.   

Many of the pipes are buried about four feet down.   But this year, the record cold sent the frost line down five to seven feet. 

My neighbors and I officially had our last "pond hockey" game over the weekend. We moved everything off the ice as things started to melt.

So the ice in the region has reached its peak, right? No one thinks we're going to be hit with another prolonged polar vortex, do they? 

Let's hope not.

With the most frigid part of this winter over, let's look at the record books for ice cover on the Great Lakes.

Here's what we know.