It's 50 freaking degrees here tonight and it's raining like Hell!

[longship]

I am used to weird weather here in the Manistee National Forest, but I have never experienced what I have the past two years. Last week it dipped below zero (fahrenheit) for the first time this winter -- most unusual. Usually January nights are nearly all below zero. Today, the mercury on my thermometer hit 50F and it is raining like hell.

Two days from now we will again see winter temperatures, so the forecasts say. Global climate change is not always warmer. The models say that it will likely be different. That's what we're seeing here. They're forecasting freaking thunderstorms in January here -- something I've never seen in my 64 years.

It sure is raining a lot, though.

[RKP5637]

1. 70's yesterday, warm today, snow tonight, tornado warning this morning, really cold weather coming.

Can't keep up with it, way outta whack. ... plus thunderstorm in January ... KS

[bigwillq]

2. It's supposed to be close to 60 with heavy rain

in CT later in the day and overnight on Wednesday.
It snowed here on Monday.

[enough]

3. Same wierdness here in SE PA.

Very cold for us last few days (down to 10F at night). Right now it is 50 and going to 60 tomorrow. The cold is very unusual here for the past few years (though we used to get that cold back in the day). But the highs are strange, and particularly the fast swing between cold and warm.

Also rain, but not consistent.

[Earth_First]

4. Same here in Western New York

Temperatures are expected to rise overnight towards 55 with a high near 61 tomorrow.

We're pretty used to hard winters here in Western New York, as you are in Michigan I am sure...

However, you are absolutely correct on these past couple of winters have just been odd.

I have puddles in our lawn this evening.

[Siwsan]

5. It's 55 in Flint, and we're between rainstorms

By Thursday we are supposed to be back in the low 20's, with snow.

[RetroGamer1971]

6. Weird Weather in PHX Too!

Two weeks ago we were at 15 degrees for 3 nights at our house. Coldest since 1987. Then five days later it was 82. Hottest temp in Jan on record. Then this weekend we got three straight days of rain. We got 2 inches in 24 hours, a new record. That is more rain than we usually get in three months. I have lived in the PHX area since 1999, and was born in AZ. I have NEVER seen weather like this in my 42 years.

[longship]

7. But CO2 is good for the planet!!!

Plants love the stuff!

So says Senator Inhof. (Idiothof, if you'd ask me.)

[llmart]

8. It's still about 54o in my area of Macomb County.

The rain quit for awhile, but it was really pouring about an hour ago. This is freakish weather and those of us who have lived awhile can't get over how different winters are nowadays.

[malaise]

9. The good news is there are no reports of tornadoes so far

although some are expected in a few states overnight (not Michigan). Stay safe

[SpartanDem]

10. I shouldn't be hearing thunder in January

[AverageJoe90]

11. National Weather Service says the average low for Manistee in January......

....is 18 degrees. I don't think that would quite allow for "nearly all" nights to be below zero, TBH.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USMI0513

(Yes, it's from weather.com, but all of their stats come from NOAA as far as I know).

[longship]

13. Manistee ain't the National Forest.

Please do not confuse the town with the forest. We are no where near Manistee, MI, but are nevertheless in the Manistee National Forest.

This is Manistee, MI:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Manistee_County_Michigan_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Manistee_Highlighted.svg

And this is the Manistee National Forest:


Below zero temps are common in Newaygo County during winter. We're used to it here. But above 50F in January with thunderstorms forecast (they have not happened) is very unusual. I've never seen such a thing before.

I remember many nights below -20F here. Thank you to a good old furnace and lots of insulation... and a reasonably full tank of heating oil.

In the deep woods one does what is necessary.

[AverageJoe90]

14. My apologies, then.

But yeah, 50*F in January, with thunderstorms? That is definitely pretty unusual. Stay safe up there.

[longship]

18. No problem, my friend.

The snow that fell last week is going to be gone tomorrow. It was only 2-3 inches.

But as I am typing this response I heard thunder, and it is still raining -- not a down pour, but steady.

It's supposed to go below freezing tomorrow. The unpaved roads here are going to be a mess. Thankfully I live on a school bus route, which they plow regularly, and put gravel if there's ice.

This time of year I only go out on days that the plow has done its job. Such as it is here in the forest.

[tledford]

12. On Thursday, 1/17 we had ...

... thunderSNOW in Greensboro, NC. First time I've ever seen it in my life.

[PasadenaTrudy]

15. Cold here too

For us in SoCal anyways. Usually I can wear shorts in January. High 50s today, high 70s for Thursday supposedly.

[longship]

21. I lived in SoCal for about a decade.

One day my wife ran into the house complaining about a downpour! From my Michigan perspective, it was sprinkling. What Alice was saying is that she got water on herself. What I was saying was that she didn't get soaked. That's the difference between rain and a downpour, a difference which Californians apparently do not understand.

We don't have a downpour tonight, but it hasn't stopped raining for hours. It's going to be slippy and sloppy on my unpaved road tomorrow.

[tblue37]

16. Yesterday, January 28 (!), it was 75 dgrees here in Lawrence, Kansas! nt

[RebelOne]

17. Tv weather man is predicting heavy storms and high winds tomorrow here in Georgia.

It was 70 degrees, but the temperature will drop because there is a cold front behind the storms.

[longship]

19. I love weather threads in GD on DU!

You hear from so many places; make new DU friends; because everybody loves to complain about the weather.

Skäl, my friend.

[Mojorabbit]

20. We hit 86 today according to my yard thermometer in Orlando. Wild weather! nt

[a la izquierda]

22. 70 today in C. Ohio.

Eerie weather. Like spring in Oklahoma...and I'm concerned for tomorrow.

Snow on Thursday and Saturday.

[flamingdem]

23. I thought you might be in California where it's 50 and I'm freezing!

We're not used to this cold.

[PasadenaTrudy]

24. I don't have clothes for this weather!

I mostly wear linen pants and tank tops and sandals! Luckily I have a down jacket I bought for an Alaska trip It was 38 when I took the dog out this morning. Cripes!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. Cold is the new warm and Warm is the new cold.

[4_TN_TITANS]

26. It's not so unusual here in Tennessee, but

it has been off and on. One week of winter, the next week like spring. Just this morning we had spring-like tornado weather because it was so warm, tomorrow back to lows below freezing.