SAGINAW, Mich. (WNEM) – On the heels of the warmest winter on record for 2023-2024, this winter has been quite the opposite!
If you were to ask someone on the street if they feel like this is the most winter-like winter we’ve had lately, they’d probably agree with you. Even if it’s not our coldest in recent history, it’s certainly been more consistent with the cold during December and January.
As we look ahead to next week, highs are expected to be in the single-digits on Monday and Tuesday as our latest shot of cold air from the north moves into the region. We know that’s not out of the ordinary for January in Michigan, but we went back to look at the last time we had a high below 10°. And the answer surprised us!
For Saginaw and Flint, the last time we had a high temperature colder than 10 degrees was nearly 6 years ago on January 31st, 2019. In case you were curious, we haven’t had a sub-zero high temperature since 1994! Our first thought would have been somewhere around winter in 2013 and 2014.
And over the last ten years, Saginaw has only seen 5 days below 10 degrees, while Flint has only had 7 days below that mark.
And just like we say “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” in the summer, it’s “don’t forget about the wind chill” in the winter. Next week, we certainly expect those to be a factor. While we won’t feel completely confident in the specifics on the numbers, the general range we could fall into at times with the wind chill Monday and Tuesday could be around -10 to -20 at their worst.
With that in mind, we have issued First Alert Weather Days for Monday and Tuesday to bring awareness as far ahead to time as possible so you can make preparations if needed for your home, any animals you might have outdoors, or if you need to check on any friends or family who may have difficulty in these temperatures. And let’s not forget, if wind chills are cold enough, there may be an impact to schools as well…