How cold is a cold winter night in Grand Rapids? (how much, homes)

[eok]

I don't mean how cold it gets once in 10 years, or anything like that. Just a typical cold winter night, such that a typical winter might have several such nights.

And how much wind would you typically get on such a night?

[michigan83]

Without looking at any stats... I think a "typical" winter night would have a low temp in the low 20s with moderate wind of maybe 10 mph and cloudy with lake effect snow flurries.

The thing about the winter climate in GR is that Lake MI has a big impact. It creates lots of cloud cover, which keeps the temp from getting too low at night, but also prevents the sun from shining much during the day. It also causes lake effect snow, which is light and fluffy, and might fall a few inches each day for a week.

[eok]

But keep in mind the distinction between a "typical winter night" and a "typical cold winter night". The kind of night I mean is the kind where people say "it's cold tonight" compared to what they're used to on most winter nights. The kind of night that only happens a few times a year on average.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by eok

But keep in mind the distinction between a "typical winter night" and a "typical cold winter night". The kind of night I mean is the kind where people say "it's cold tonight" compared to what they're used to on most winter nights. The kind of night that only happens a few times a year on average.

This is a really strange question. What are you looking for? Will you be inside or outside on this kind of night?

Here's a chart of temps, average highs and lows:

http://weatherspark.com/averages/304...-United-States

I think though that you asked about summer temps in another thread. I think you're over thinking things. 50 Million people live in the Great Lakes area, 10 Million of those in Michigan. The weather is not that big of a deal in modern times when cars, homes and workplaces come with plenty of heat and AC.

[eok]

There are a lot more reasons to be interested in the weather than just discomfort. For example, if you live in a hot place, and you store cans of paint in your shed, the heat can make them burst. Or if you plant the wrong perennial plants in your yard, the cold can kill them even though they're supposed to be perennial. Or if Michigan gets invaded by Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, their eggs might survive under the snow, even though they would die if directly exposed to a very cold wind.

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by eok

But keep in mind the distinction between a "typical winter night" and a "typical cold winter night". The kind of night I mean is the kind where people say "it's cold tonight" compared to what they're used to on most winter nights. The kind of night that only happens a few times a year on average.

Ok I understand the question a little better now.

When I lived in in GR, the type of night where I would say "wow it's unusually cold!" would be a night where temps are in the teens and it's windy, maybe 20-30 mph. If winds are calm, temps might need to be in the single digits or below zero before I would say "it's cold tonight!" Single digits and below zero are fairly rare in GR.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by eok

There are a lot more reasons to be interested in the weather than just discomfort. For example, if you live in a hot place, and you store cans of paint in your shed, the heat can make them burst. Or if you plant the wrong perennial plants in your yard, the cold can kill them even though they're supposed to be perennial. Or if Michigan gets invaded by Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, their eggs might survive under the snow, even though they would die if directly exposed to a very cold wind.

My apologies. Carry on.

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by eok

There are a lot more reasons to be interested in the weather than just discomfort. For example, if you live in a hot place, and you store cans of paint in your shed, the heat can make them burst. Or if you plant the wrong perennial plants in your yard, the cold can kill them even though they're supposed to be perennial. Or if Michigan gets invaded by Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, their eggs might survive under the snow, even though they would die if directly exposed to a very cold wind.

It sounds like you worry a lot.

[GraniteStater]

I don't think most people would be able to handle a late 1970s era Winter if one occurred again because the population has been too accustomed to milder winter temperatures. January 1977 featured the historical Buffalo, NY blizzard snow emergency with a snowdepth of 68 inches and Madison, WI had an average temperature for the entire month of 6F with an air temperature at times near -30F for lows. Weatherunderground has a lot of nice historical data to look at if you type in the four letter airport symbol in your local area.
Grand Rapids is modified a bit by Lake Michigan so below 0F low temperatures are not common in larger quantities compared to the other side of the Great Lakes that do not have that modification. Also, diurnal temperature ranges are low in Winter due to cloud cover so a 15F spread between low and high temperatures are quite common.

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I don't think most people would be able to handle a late 1970s era Winter if one occurred again because the population has been too accustomed to milder winter temperatures. January 1977 featured the historical Buffalo, NY blizzard snow emergency with a snowdepth of 68 inches and Madison, WI had an average temperature for the entire month of 6F with an air temperature at times near -30F for lows. Weatherunderground has a lot of nice historical data to look at if you type in the four letter airport symbol in your local area.
Grand Rapids is modified a bit by Lake Michigan so below 0F low temperatures are not common in larger quantities compared to the other side of the Great Lakes that do not have that modification. Also, diurnal temperature ranges are low in Winter due to cloud cover so a 15F spread between low and high temperatures are quite common.

I agree that a 1970's style winter would be very difficult for people at this time. Those winters were much colder and more snowy than average. Those winters are part of the reason that people who grew up during that time period have a partially skewed idea of what winter "used to be like." Though we have had snowy winters in recent years (the last decade has been quite snowy here compared to average), they have not been exceptionally cold. We always have that thaw cycle to melt the snow pack and "reset" everything. It makes winter less difficult.

It is interesting how much different things are on each side of the lake. One anecdotal way of looking at it that I have noticed as a football fan growing up... I cannot count how many times I have watched Lions-Bears games and Lions-Packers game that were played in Chicago and Green Bay and noticed how the sun is shining brightly in those places (even if it's frigid) while we are usually under dense cloud cover at that time of year. It is especially noticeable since those football games are played at a time when Lake Michigan is having the biggest effect on our cloud cover that it does all year. But maybe we get the last laugh, because it might be 5 degrees in Green Bay and 20 degrees here.