Wednesday Night Weather Update - 5/13/26

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:03][music] [music] [music] [music] >> Hey there West Michigan meteorologist Will Haney here. It is Wednesday night, May 13th. Hopefully everyone enjoying themselves on this very chilly day today.

[00:00:42]We are looking ahead to some warmer temperatures in the coming days at least. And some much warmer air, especially this weekend. So definitely looking forward to that. I'm going to give folks a few seconds just to chime in here and get in the room and then we'll get the conversation going.

[00:00:59]I wanted to quickly, if I can, pull up our Kalamazoo live eye and just see what that's looking like. Should have a pretty decent or should have had a pretty decent sunset out there for some of you. So if you happen to snap a pic and it's pretty nice, let me know.

[00:01:19]Let's see what the Oh, that's pretty.

[00:01:22]South Haven cleared up.

[00:01:24]Here, let me show you that really quickly. I got to load it up.

[00:01:30]Make sure I don't have any typos in here. All right. So here's South Haven.

[00:01:34]Pull that up.

[00:01:35]Flip this around and you can see, lovely.

[00:01:39]So after what was just a kind of gray, cloudy day, finally cleared up a little bit, at least.

[00:01:46]Um If I can quickly, let's see how long this takes me.

[00:01:51]I'm just going to flip our camera source to Kalamazoo.

[00:01:56]And show you guys that one as well.

[00:01:59]Um let's see how quickly I can do this.

[00:02:05]I'm going to turn this off.

[00:02:08]I wanted to just see how pretty this looked.

[00:02:13]Hm.

[00:02:15]Should be this one?

[00:02:18]That's not the best view.

[00:02:21]Nope, don't want that.

[00:02:22]>> [laughter] >> Yeah, that's a pretty good view.

[00:02:26]Grand Rapids, still mostly cloudy there, right on the edge of clearing.

[00:02:30]Allegan and there's South Haven again. Ah, so pretty.

[00:02:35]Um anyways, I'm not going to spend a ton of time playing around with these, however, I could.

[00:02:43]Let's see how quickly if this is the right camera.

[00:02:46]I'm not even sure if that is the right camera.

[00:02:50]Is that going to change?

[00:02:54]Yeah, clearest skies over Kalamazoo right now. There we go, it'll catch up.

[00:02:57]All right, I I'm just having fun right now waiting for some folks to get in here. All right, but let's talk about the forecast because that's what you are here for.

[00:03:07]Not for me just to play around with cameras, although like I said, that's pretty lovely. Nice afterglow, it cleared up pretty quickly tonight, so um that was nice. Just in time for pretty nice sunset for some of you. So again, if you have a good sunset photo, feel feel free to send it my way uh via Chime In. You just go to our website, www.wmt.com/chimein, and uh we get a lot of submissions pretty much every day, so it's always really helpful to kind of share the weather story. All right, that edge of clearing is pretty much right at 1:31.

[00:03:38]You can kind of see it there. So, clouds starting to erode. Um those showers are not reaching the ground.

[00:03:44]And uh those continue to dive off to the south, maybe some evaporating precept from the cloud bases uh just to our east, but we're going to continue to see clearing overnight tonight through early tomorrow morning. We have a little ridge that's going to be riding in here the next couple of days.

[00:04:00]Um overnight tonight will be chilly. Uh not quite frost advisory criteria. However, I would say north of Grand Rapids it's possible there's some patchy frost. I don't think it'll be too widespread though. We're just a few degrees above the threshold where we start to get a little bit more concerned. The wind is also going to stay a little bit more breezy throughout the overnight hours.

[00:04:21]So, um that will limit frost potential as well.

[00:04:25]Um Carla, hello. Janette, hello. Tim, hello.

[00:04:28]Donald, what's up? And Michael, what's up?

[00:04:32]in Kalamazoo.

[00:04:34]Um so, here's the look at uh your Thursday again. Thursday is beautiful.

[00:04:37]It'll be a chilly start, but then sunny and mid-60s into the afternoon.

[00:04:42]So, uh definitely not complaining there.

[00:04:45]All right.

[00:04:47]Briefly, I wanted to touch on the Kalamazoo tornado anniversary. It's the 46th anniversary of that, which happened back on May 13th, 1980. And um as I put it on Facebook a little earlier, this is like that I remember when or um when I when I bumped into viewers over the years, it's like the first thing that uh often times people mention because it was such a historic event for us.

[00:05:12]Something that's really scarred into the memory of so many that were around um on that day either directly or indirectly.

[00:05:21]And so, um I did share a little bit about this on my Facebook and got a lot of pretty amazing stories there as well. So, just case in point, you know, something that everyone remembers, of course. Um as you recall the the tornado touching down on the west side of town. Um not far from I'm trying to remember. That would be like West Main and 131.

[00:05:44]Um not far from there. There's a now apartment complex out there and I think there was at the time as well. Um, so I'm talking about right here. I can actually hold on.

[00:05:57]Pause, we're going to go back. Okay.

[00:06:00]So, that's the general path. Westwood neighborhood, hit a church there, neighborhood decimated in spots.

[00:06:08]Right through the heart of Kalamazoo, hits the Gilmore Department Building among other businesses and then also Bronson Park had like half of its trees wiped out, I'm pretty sure.

[00:06:19]Um, and then it lifts all the way out in Comstock. So, it was on the ground for like 11 miles max with a 400 yards and unfortunately five folks were tragically killed in the storm. But, um, the tornado, yeah, struck Green Acres subdivision. Some of these things are going to be, you know, racked in the memory bank bank for some of you. Um, did significant damage to homes and then went through the Westwood neighborhood.

[00:06:45]And this was where uh, a woman was tragically killed uh, in a laundromat which, if you remember the coverage in the days that followed that, um, was something that was certainly uh, something that we reported on and that was making news and and just super sad.

[00:07:03]Um, then it goes through the heart of downtown Kalamazoo from about 4:50 right around 4:15 in the afternoon. So, think like people were kind of wrapping up their day at work. People were driving home. Schools had let out early, um, based on a lot of accounts or I'm not sure if all schools did, but I know a lot of schools did because of the tornado watch that was issued.

[00:07:23]Um, and people were on guard for that.

[00:07:25]So, um, yeah, it goes right through Bronson Park, Kalamazoo Mall, Gilmore Brothers Department Store. And that's where uh, tragically again, uh, three additional folks, um, were killed. And then we had one final death out in Comstock Township, a man that was, um, working on a fuel truck and uh yeah, it didn't didn't make it. So, 4:25 in the afternoon that tornado is uh wrapping up. Now, it is kind of a somber day in a weird way around here. Um in a weird way because, you know, it's just something that we always remember, May 13th. At least I I wasn't even around, obviously, but um even me having lived here for 8 years, just I know the weight of that day for a lot of folks. So, um I always mention it. It's kind of like a we always we're always going to remember it, and I think it is important to remember. I also think it's good um not that we need the biggest refresher after the last couple of years with the Portage tornado uh just a couple years ago, and then obviously Union City / Three Rivers just a few months ago. Um but it is like kind of that reminder that we still, while rare, we still can get those higher-end tornadoes here. So, you always want to take your tornado warnings and things seriously.

[00:08:36]All right.

[00:08:37]That was a very condensed version of a TED Talk I'll give one day.

[00:08:42]However, um we're going to be much warmer the next several days. Um tomorrow, Friday, still kind of cooler-ish, but a big improvement over today. Today, we were only in the um middle 40s this afternoon. It was downright cold. I was working outside, and I did not have a heavy enough jacket on. It was like cutting me. It was It was cold. But, yeah, that's no joke right there.

[00:09:08]Um look at that.

[00:09:10]Lower 80s this weekend, and then upper 80s on Monday.

[00:09:15]Craziness. So, we are very much flipping the switch from like spring. Today felt more like fall in my opinion. Almost like a late fall day almost. Um but yeah, we're very very quickly going to going to be sweating here uh come Monday. So, yeah, current temps still in those middle 40s.

[00:09:35]Dew point, this is kind of the best indication of moisture in the atmosphere.

[00:09:41]So, dew point's been hanging out in like the very low numbers, 30s, 20s.

[00:09:46]Um but that dew point is really going to start to climb.

[00:09:49]Um now notice tomorrow Friday, you won't really notice anything in the way of humidity. However, late Friday into Saturday, that's where we'll see perhaps a little surge or an initial spike and just some slight humidity, little bit muggy.

[00:10:04]Saturday, Sunday, and then into Monday, we're a full-blown into that like muggy category or humid category.

[00:10:11]So, Monday you're definitely going to notice that a little bit more, especially when that is coupled with the fact that it's going to be in the upper 80s.

[00:10:17]So, large counterclockwise spin over the Great Lakes right now. Um that is our area of high of low pressure, excuse me.

[00:10:26]Um that is bringing today's cooler weather. That's going to start to retreat. And we have little bit of ridging working its way in here.

[00:10:34]And so, as that translates in, that is going to bring us at least one day of some clear skies, which you can already start to see taking place out to our west. Um Where was I going to go with this?

[00:10:49]Going to zoom out. Ah.

[00:10:52]Did the wrong thing.

[00:10:55]So, some activity over the Rockies right now. Um Next disturbance is still a few days away. Going to get a little bit more unsettled into the weekend, which we'll touch on with that uh warm-up. So, um stay tuned.

[00:11:10]Uh as we look ahead here with our snapshot, tomorrow is again really nice.

[00:11:15]Friday, we might see a brief shower in the morning, but other than that, Friday I think we'll just see a little bit more cloud cover. It will be a little warmer, though.

[00:11:22]And then by Saturday, Sunday, Monday, daily chances for at least some sort of shower or thunderstorm chance. Um while I don't think really any of those days are true washouts where we're going to see rain and storms all day, I do think Saturday afternoon, um, possibly even Saturday morning, too, could bring just some limited showers and thunderstorms. Sunday, I would think more late in the day, and then Monday, later afternoon, evening, definitely has our attention for maybe some stronger storms as well.

[00:11:53]But overall, your weekend, you might have to dodge some scattered storms Saturday afternoon, evening. I would count on kind of a similar story on Sunday. This isn't necessarily like going to ruin your weekend plans necessarily, but it is going to be something that you might have to just monitor. Um, Saturday doesn't look too impressive as far as any upper or any higher-end storm potential. However, Sunday, it's possible ingredients are I wouldn't even say really that favorable, but there's enough juice, if you will, to the atmosphere where I wouldn't be shocked if we saw maybe one or two stronger storms. Um, Monday definitely has our attention, though.

[00:12:30]Now, admittedly, Monday, the ingredients are much higher to our west, and this is already being indicated even in like the day six outlook, um, what you're looking at there from the Storm Prediction Center.

[00:12:42]Um, I do think Ooh, excuse me. I've been up since 5:00 a.m., y'all. If you couldn't tell, I'm a little tired. I'm a little tired today.

[00:12:52]I can I was like just thinking in my in my head like a minute ago. I was like, I sound tired tonight.

[00:12:57]>> [laughter] >> So anyways, um, our 4-year-old was not having it this morning. Anyways, um, severe thun- thunderstorms are much more likely on Monday to our west. However, some of those could spill in, um, into our area by late in the day.

[00:13:13]So, that's something we'll be watching.

[00:13:15]I think it's also possible even in Tuesday, too, that we see a few stronger storms, but Tuesday's definitely far from certain right now. Basically, um, one model, one of our primary weather models has like a cold front going in Monday into Tuesday, which kind of clears us out into Tuesday. Whereas the other primary weather model, specifically in this case the European weather model, keeps some moisture and some ingredients in play kind of like Monday and Tuesday.

[00:13:43]So, it's just going to be a matter of like how quickly um we see a front that kind of swings through here, chokes off some of the moisture, and um some of our better storm ingredients. But, we'll cross that bridge when it comes. But, right now all I can say is, you know, keep an eye on Monday, Tuesday, and a lot could still change. We could We're We're mentioning this now just as an extended heads-up.

[00:14:04]You know, in a couple days we might be telling you, "Hey, nothing to worry about on Monday." Hopefully, that will be the case that it will trend in that direction. Um but, at the very least I think we could see maybe uh isolated thunderstorm. So, that's just the next chance. We always want to kind of keep you looking ahead to the next thing if there is something. Um but, yeah, going to finally be a little more active here yet again after what has been a pretty quiet um May so far.

[00:14:29]It's been a cooler-than-average May. Um we're a couple days away for from the midpoint of the month. So, I'll have I'll run some numbers probably on Friday to give us kind of an update as far as where this May ranks. But, my guess is we're probably running uh a degree or two below average. And um I know we're very dry for the month of May so far. In fact, I can pull that up really quickly.

[00:14:51]Um that I have a graphic for.

[00:14:55]Let's see.

[00:14:58]Um maybe I can't because I am disorganized.

[00:15:03]No, me disorganized?

[00:15:06]I'm moderately organized. I'm not the most disorganized.

[00:15:12]But, I'm also not the most organized, if you get what I mean. If you know what I mean.

[00:15:18]All right. So, I can't find it. But, you know what?

[00:15:23]You know what I'm going to do?

[00:15:26]I'm going to search.

[00:15:29]Here we go.

[00:15:31]Hmm.

[00:15:32]Hmm. I think it's this one.

[00:15:34]Kalamazoo.12. Hey, that rhymes.

[00:15:40]Um that's all we've seen so far this month. And, you know, we're almost halfway through the month.

[00:15:46]We get a little bit over uh 3 in of rain. I think it's like 3 and 1/2 for the month of May.

[00:15:52]So, you know, we have decent departure already. It's just so funny because April was the wettest on record in Kalamazoo with over 7 in of rain uh in just Kalamazoo.

[00:16:03]There were some areas we saw we had a few of you uh viewers say like over a foot of rain in parts of the area. I think I had a few reports of that like out near Marshall, I think was one of them. I mean, so yeah, there were some higher areas too in there. So, April was remarkably wet. Kind of funny how much we've changed um in the first half of the month so far.

[00:16:25]But, uh I digress. I'm going to zoom ahead here to the 7-day just to show that one more time and then I'll wrap this up so I can go do some jumping jacks.

[00:16:37]Do something. I got to wake up before this 10:00 and 11:00, y'all.

[00:16:40]Um Yeah, Joanne, you heard about the Kalamazoo tornado of 1980 from your boss who went through it. I can only imagine.

[00:16:49]He was probably pretty freaked out.

[00:16:51]Um Oh, you're supposed to go to a few zoos.

[00:16:57]Hopefully it pans out, Melissa, uh for the storms.

[00:17:01]Um I don't think, Jesse, this weekend's going to be too bad. You know, Sunday there's a little bit of uh cape or basically storm energy in play that has our attention, but Monday looks a lot more uh impressive on that front. Um So, Sunday is like a we'll keep an eye on it, but I'm less worried about Sunday than I am Monday.

[00:17:27]But, it's still a few days out, so we'll probably have to fine-tune things, but I I wouldn't say it's a big deal right now by any means.

[00:17:36]Um we've had more than our share We did have our fair share of rain, Joanne.

[00:17:42]Jesse, thank you.

[00:17:45]You do got to stay hydrated. Good reminder.

[00:17:48]And stay UV protected because the sun is no joke this time of year. Even though it's May, we don't like think of wearing as much sunscreen this time of year cuz it's not like that peak beach weather summertime.

[00:18:01]Like, my brain associates sunscreen with summertime, not so much with springtime.

[00:18:06]However, sunscreen still important in springtime, especially in in May because the sun is just as strong right now as it will be in say like late July, early August. So, um we're about we're almost a month away from the summer solstice, which will be on June 21st, then those days start getting shorter. Sun angle starts getting a little less direct, which is crazy. It's crazy we're already like the the summer solstice on the 21st, so we're almost a month away from that.

[00:18:40]Crazy. It's definitely going to feel like it um Sunday and Monday especially, and then slightly cooler with maybe some lingering storms and showers into the middle portion of next week. But, I'm going to go I don't know.

[00:18:53]I'm not What should I do to wake up, y'all? Sean, um good evening, sir.

[00:18:59]Or ma'am. Sorry. Sean, I'm not sure if Sean when you spell it that way, sometimes I feel like it can I apologize if I called you by the wrong gender. Karen, um hello in Battle Creek.

[00:19:18]Appreciate all of you.

[00:19:19]Um take care and I'll see you on the arc at 10:00 and 11:00 on NewsChannel 3.

[00:19:26]And I am here all week for Keith.

[00:19:30]They're keeping me around. Keith's on vacation enjoying some time off. So um Joan, not to you know, funny enough Joan, the new baby was not the one keeping me awake. It was my 4-year-old.

[00:19:43]Last night.

[00:19:44]I even I was telling my wife, I rolled over in bed at like 4:30 in the morning. I was like, man, this is great. They're all sleeping through the night. And then fast forward like 20 minutes later and my 4-year-old gets up to go to the bathroom and then it was game over from there. She like we kept laying her down and she gets sometimes freaked out when there's I guess when everything's super dark in the house.

[00:20:09]So it was sad, but also it was a lot.

[00:20:15]>> [laughter] >> So and then our our middle one after a little bit, she woke up way earlier than she usually does cuz big sister was acting a hot mess express. So and then we were all up and the 4-year-old, guess what happened? She fell back asleep and was trying and she was going to sleep the day away. I was like, no, You're getting up and going to school.

[00:20:38]All right. All right, Shawn.

[00:20:40]Appreciate it. I'm sorry, man. I thought so but hey.

[00:20:46]I've I've met female Shawns before and I can't with your profile picture I can't tell if you have a friend in there. It's like this big on my screen. That big. So I I I would just want to be sure. I didn't want to offend you. All right, thank you guys so much and is Oh, 88's too high. I agree, Leslie.

[00:21:15]Mother Nation needs to chill.

[00:21:17]All right. Take care. I'll see you guys on TV.