Although chilly this past week, a wetter and warmer than normal spring is forecasted for Northern Michigan.
/ upnorthlive photo
NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- The National Weather Service sent out its spring outlook for 2013 which keeps Northern Michigan warmer and wetter than normal this spring.
While it's been a cold and snowy week, forecasters at both the national and local level believe that once this pattern changes, it will be quick with a warming trend and also wetter than normal conditions expected heading into April and into late spring.
The good news in the forecast nationally was the expectation in the Corn Belt and Northern/Central Plains and other areas stricken by drought the last couple of years that a wetter than normal spring would help ease the dry weather there, perhaps setting up a better year from an agricultural standpoint. The Desert Southwest and also Southern Florida are expected to continue to see dry conditions with drought stricken locations there seeing little improvement.
The other concern is for spring river flooding. Locally, across Northern Michigan there is a decent snowpack which will melt and lead to the seasonal rises on area rivers, but no major flooding is forecasted locally at this point. Parts of Southern Michigan as well as the Upper Midwest such as the Red River in North Dakota could see major flooding based on the amount of snow that has fallen.
As we head deeper into spring, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Looking out further, the trend is for the warmer than normal spring forecast to carry over into the summer, fall, and next winter with above normal precipitation this spring, turning back to near normal levels for the summer, fall, and winter.
