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Does a dreary April mean a cold summer in West Michigan?

April 2022 was one of the coldest, wettest and cloudiest in Grand Rapids, but what might that mean for summer 2022?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It may come as no surprise - April 2022 was downright dreary:  it was the cloudiest on record, it ranked as the 12th wettest on record and in the top 25 coldest for April.

Credit: 13 On Your Side
April 2022 Monthly Almanac

Let's start with sunshine (or the lack of): our records show April 2022 as the cloudiest on record with 30.1%, second to 30.6% set in 1980.  It was the cloudiest since 2011.

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Top 10 Cloudiest Aprils

When looking at the the combined 'dreary-factor' April 2022 came in third, behind 1950 and 1909, ranked by the cloudiest, wettest and coldest.

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Dreariest Aprils

When taking these top nine years (plus the next awful April - 1966 to make it a top 10), 70% of the following summers were cooler than average. 

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Top 10 Summer Temperatures Forecast based on April Weather

Rainfall was split 50-50, with half the years getting more rain than usual and half receiving less.

More summer sunshine was favored (70%) over cloudier summers (30%).

La Niña continues to influence our weather pattern and is expected to last through the upcoming summer.  Its effects lean toward slightly warmer conditions, BUT that happens less than half the time.

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La Niña Summer Temperatures

Predicted rainfall is evenly split, with no clear-cut outcomes for either more or less rainfall (similar to the findings above: 50-50 split).

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La Niña Summer Rainfall

While this may not be a predictor of what summer 2022 might be like it is certainly food for thought.

What are your thoughts?

Chief Meteorologist George Lessens

George is a graduate of Penn State University working for 13 On Your Side for 41+ years. He is a twelve-time MAB® Weathercast Award Winner and two-time EMMY® Award Winner.

Contact me at: GeorgeLessens@13OnYourSide.com

Follow me on Twitter @glessens and Facebook GeorgeLessensWZZM

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