Following prolonged heat, heavy rains usher in cooler temps
If you live west of Ann Arbor and felt like the heavens must have dumped five years’ worth of water on your house overnight, you might be right.
Some areas to the west of the city, including Chelsea, got 2.75 inches of rain in the 24-hour period that ended at 7 a.m. this morning, said University of Michigan weather observer Dennis Kahlbaum. That qualifies as a five-year storm, meaning a storm dumping that much moisture could be expected, roughly speaking, every five years.
Before you get too impressed though, parts of Ann Arbor had a 100-year storm in July, when more than 6 inches of rain fell.
Other areas got decidedly less precipitation overnight. The weather station Kahlbaum monitors on North Campus got 1.77 inches, still an impressive amount. On the southeast side of town, though, the total amounted to only .58 inches and farther south, the totals were even less.
The rain is ushering in a period of cooler weather, likely to be a welcome relief after days on end of highs in the 80s and 90s. Monday marked the 34th consecutive day of high temperatures at 80 or above, said Amos Dodson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township. The record is 44.
In the period ending July 25, Ann Arbor recorded temperatures at 90 or above for 9 consecutive days. That record is 12. The month was the hottest July on record.
Today’s high is expected to be in the low to mid-80s, and there’s still a chance of showers and thunderstorms. The high Wednesday and Thursday is expected to be in the 70s. Temperatures could reach the low 80s Friday but then will be back in the 70s for the weekend.
For updated forecasts and conditions any time, check AnnArbor.com's weather page.
Comments
Scott Phillips
Sat, Aug 20, 2011 : 12:14 p.m.
Spring street turned into Spring Lake during the August 9th rain storm as water flowed down the Water Hill area into the Belize Park (Fountain & Summit) "Catch Basin" and flooded several basements on the 700 block of Spring Street. We had approximately 3 feet of water in our basement and lost everything. The rain garden, silt fence and other storm water mitigations in Belize Park have not helped during heavy rains. The city really needs an engineer to take a look at the situation before Belize Park and parts of the neighborhood wash away from surface erosion.
laura wolf
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 8:23 p.m.
i looked at this write up to see if there was a report about the massive storm sewer back up on mapleridge. no, not here. same thing happened last year - the water backs up and up till it finally sucks down the storm drain quickly. it was high enough on one house to go over the sill of the side door inside the closed garage and run down the basement steps. seems newsworthy enough to report on.
Epengar
Wed, Aug 10, 2011 : 4:36 p.m.
Was this reported to the city? You can submit it online over the web <a href="http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/customerservice/Pages/OnlineCustomerServiceRequest.aspx" rel='nofollow'>http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/customerservice/Pages/OnlineCustomerServiceRequest.aspx</a> or just contact the people on the storm water page: <a href="http://www.a2gov.org/storm" rel='nofollow'>http://www.a2gov.org/storm</a>
Bertha Venation
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 8:14 p.m.
I'm near Dexter and Wagner and my sump pump was going on and off all night long.
Jeff Renner
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 7:25 p.m.
We got 3.60 inches in Scio Township near Dexter-Ann Arbor and W. Delhi. This is more than the total precipitation map at wunderground.com shows. It shows 2-3 inches here, over 4 inches further west. Our sump pump is running again, as it did after the big storm last month. It normally never runs in the summer.
David Cahill
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 7:24 p.m.
We got four inches of rain overnight here on Broadway.
Bob Krzewinski
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 5:53 p.m.
For everyone who believes mankind's actions cannot change the climate, keep in mind nature bats last.
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Aug 10, 2011 : 3:48 a.m.
As heat waves go, 1936 has yet to be topped: (records from Detroit) Date High Low Mean July 8th 104 * 72 88 July 9th 102 75 89 July 10th 102 77 90 ** July 11th 101 77 89 July 12th 100 76 88 July 13th 102 73 88 July 14th 104 69 87 In the July 2011 heat wave, we got to 100 on one day. And the longest stretch of 90's at Detroit actually belongs to late August and early September of 1953. Go figure.