A torrential downpour became a mid-winter snowstorm in a matter of minutes Thursday, as the National Weather Service placed the areas surrounding the Red Cedar River under a flood warning.
After temperatures came close to reaching 60 degrees this week, numbers on the thermometer will plummet this weekend, deep freezing MSU's campus and parts of the state into next week, said Mark Walton, hydrologist at the Grand Rapids National Weather Service station.
Since December, the jet stream has been unusually active and it's been noticed by everyone, said Jeff Andreson, MSU geography associate professor and state climatologist.
The jet stream is moving faster than normal and it has more changing patterns this year than usual, he said.
The weather is part of the jet stream that is causing the strange weather in Michigan, Andreson said.
"Where the jet stream is determines who has balmy 60 degrees and who has a blizzard," Andreson said. "It certainly keeps meteorologists on their toes," he said. "It makes liars out of forecasters."
The extra precipitation is causing flooding in the Red Cedar River, Walton said.
The Red Cedar River should reach flood stage this morning at seven feet causing minor flooding.
On campus, the river usually runs under five feet.
Any further flooding on MSU's campus should be prevented because a cold air front should put the area in a deep freeze, slowing any runoff, he said.
David Gard, energy policy specialist for the Michigan Environmental Council, said he is not connecting all of the current weather patterns with global warming, but said there is strong evidence that the climate is changing over time, and with climate changes come different weather patterns.
"Scientists have concluded the evidence for climate change is converging," Gard said. "The hottest years on record have occurred within the past 10 years and this correlates almost perfectly with rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."
There has been unprecedented amounts of melting ice near the poles, polar bears have changed their patterns and the Inuit people who live in the polar regions have experienced thunderstorms in the past couple years, Gard said.
"They had no word before to describe such a thing," Gard said.
But Walton said there will eventually be a relief from precipitation as the deep freeze descends on Michigan, but there shouldn't be sunny days coming any time soon, Walton said.
"It's Michigan," he said.
