SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — In less than two weeks, West Michigan has seen an extreme mix of weather — from tornadoes and hail that looked like snow, to high winds and dangerous lake conditions. News Channel 3 Meteorologists Collin Rogers says the chaotic pattern is tied to the seasonal transition from winter to spring, but this year’s activity has been particularly pronounced.
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Rogers explained that rapid temperature swings are fueling the storms.
“So right now is that in-between season where we’re going from winter into spring. So, we get these powerful areas of low pressure and then we’re going to see these dramatic swings in temperature. When we had those tornadoes it was in the 60s and 70s in Kalamazoo while up north in Grand Rapids it was in the 30s and 40s. That huge difference in temperature is what’s causing a lot of this severe weather,” Rogers said.
The stretch of extreme weather began on March 6 when four tornadoes struck West Michigan, including an EF-3 tornado in Union City. It was the earliest EF-3 or stronger tornado ever recorded in Michigan in a calendar year. Rogers said that while snow is not uncommon in March, “seeing those swings, like going from a very powerful tornado to a snow event in a short duration of time is certainly not common. Springtime is when we see those big changes in weather, but that was a very unusual event, just how strong the severe weather was, going back to now an accumulating snow event.”…