Rockford teen Emma Reed was on the way home from self-defense class Monday evening, March 4, when a lightning storm lit up the sky out the car window.
(Courtesy, Emma Reed)
Grabbing a phone, Reed proceeded to take video and pictures of the storm as her mother sought routes that would give her a clear shot of the lightning.
“It was so cool,” Reed told WKTV. “You could see the actual bolts of lightning.”
An electric phenomena
Considered dry lightning (lightning that occurs without rain nearby), the electric display was a prelude to rain that would make an appearance during the Monday night and Tuesday morning hours.
(Courtesy, Emma Reed)
Lightning is defined as an electrical discharge caused by imbalances within clouds, or between storm clouds and the ground. It is considered one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth.
In addition to being visible during thunderstorms, it can also be seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, heavy snowstorms and large hurricanes.
(Courtesy, Emma Reed)
Learn more about lightning
Learn more about the phenomena of lightning on the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory website.
Utility companies work to restore power to over 374K customers after severe storms sweep through Michigan (Courtesy, www.pxhere.com)
By Deborah Reed
deborah@wktv.org
Widespread damage extends over Michigan after severe storms and suspected tornados tear across the state on Aug. 25.
75-mph winds left 374,000 Michigan utility customers without power on Friday, Aug. 25, from Grand Rapids to the southeast side of the state.
The storm damaged structures, took down trees and power lines, and resulted in closed roads for several hours.
The Grand Rapids National Weather Service reported that officials will be in the field Friday to conduct damage surveys on tornadoes suspected in central Kent County and northeast Ingham County.
Storms took down trees, power lines, and damaged structures (Courtesy, www.pxhere.com)
Power outages can cause food spoilage, water contamination, disrupt communication and transportation, and prevent use of medical devices. Loss of power can also restrict consumer access to ATMs, banks, grocery stores, and other services.
Here are some safety tips provided by ready.gov in case of power outage:
Check with local officials about heating and cooling locations open near you, and go to a community location with power if heat or cold is extreme.
Keep freezers and refrigerators closed to prevent food spoilage.
Donot use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.
Disconnect appliances and electronics to avoid damage from electrical surges – power may return with momentary surges or spikes that can cause damage.
Have alternate plans for refrigerating medicines or using power-dependent medical devices.
Use a generator, but ONLY outdoors and away from windows.
Generators can be helpful when the power goes out, but it is important to know how to use them safely to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and other hazards.
Generators and fuel should always be used outdoors and at least 20 feet away from windows, doors and attached garages.
Install working carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can kill you, your family and pets.
Keep the generator dry and protected from rain or flooding. Touching a wet generator or devices connected to one can cause electrical shock.
Always connect the generator to appliances with heavy-duty extension cords.
Let the generator cool before refueling. Fuel spilled on hot engine parts can ignite.
Road commissions across the state are preparing for the winter months. (WKTV)
LANSING – Counties in northern Michigan are buying new equipment and hiring more full-time employees for an expected wetter-than-average winter.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently predicted that the Great Lakes region will have more frequent precipitation than usual this winter. This is caused by the phenomenon La Niña.
The same phenomenon means that the temperature in the Pacific Ocean is dropping, said Bryan Mroczka, a physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationin Ann Arbor.
And lower temperatures in the ocean mean below-average temperatures in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.
‘More will be coming from the sky’
“What we can expect is that there will be more precipitation than the long-term average,” Mroczka said.
In simpler terms, “over the whole winter period, more will come from the sky,” he said.
Although it is difficult to predict weather conditions for the entire season, during La Niña years “there may be more frequent days where you wake up and you have to brush the snow off of your car and more days where you’re driving to work in a little bit of snow,” Mroczka said.
Much of Michigan is expected to have average weather conditions.
But places like Sault Ste. Marie and Alpena are expected to have a severe winter, according to the accumulated winter season severity index by the Midwest Regional Climate Center in Indiana.
Some of the severe weather may be attributed to three consecutive years of La Nina conditions.
“This is kind of unprecedented,” said Austin Pearson, a climatologist at the center.
Expected conditions in the north
The National Weather Service has already reported snow near Marquette. Typically, the snow season spans from December to February, but it can come as early as October and as late as April, Pearson said.
Grand Traverse County, in the northwest part of the state, is already preparing.
“Our preparation for the next winter season happens at the end of the prior winter season,” said Jay Saksewski, the superintendent for the county’s road commission. County road workers began repairing equipment, ordering material and hiring personnel in April.
Last winter, the county lacked enough trained drivers to operate the snowplows, Saksewski said. It had only 26 drivers and relied on seasonal workers.
This year, it is going into this season with 30 full-time employees, he said.
The agency has also ordered three additional snowplows for the season.
“Typically we will bring three new trucks into the fleet,” Saksewski said. “At the same time, we’re obsoleting three trucks and putting those out for other agencies or private parties to buy.”
The UP is getting ready
Within the last three years, the Leelanau County Road Commission has had to order more salt because of how often it snowed.
“Our average snowfall is 120 inches and last year it was closer to 100 inches, but it snowed almost every day,” said Brendan Mullane, the managing director for the commission.
He is also hiring more drivers. The commission has 26 full-time drivers and six seasonal drivers. The amount of snow that is expected doesn’t affect those hiring decisions.
“It doesn’t really matter if we get a foot of snow or 2 inches of snow, we still have to drive the routes no matter what to get to all of the corners of our county,” Mullane said.
And here at home, what to expect
The Kent County Road Commission is warning drivers to allow more time for morning commutes, have good tires and watch the overnight weather forecast for severe snow, said Jerry Byrne, the superintendent for the agency.
“We work with our partners in law enforcement to help educate folks,” Byrne said.
The wintry projections aren’t all bad news. Tourists looking to go skiing or dog-sledding in the Upper Peninsula can count on La Niña to make it happen.
The region’s economy is based on snow, said Tom Nemacheck, the executive director for Upper Peninsula Travel, a group that promotes tourism.
“It’s absolutely phenomenal for the U.P.,” Nemacheck said. “It’s the best thing that happens for us in the wintertime.”
Janelle James is a senior at Michigan State University double majoring in journalism and political science with a minor in Spanish. Janelle aspires to one day secure a position as an investigative journalist, White House correspondent or politician.
The National Weather Service predicts this year’s fall season will be 40% warmer compared to average mid-Michigan temperatures of 50 degrees from September through November. (WKTV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)
The National Weather Service predicts there’s a 40% chance the temperatures will average above normal this fall in mid-Michigan.
MeteorologistWilliam Marino said warming fall temperatures have become more common in recent years.
That’s largely due to an ongoing La Niña, according to Marino, who is based in Grand Rapids.
That phenomenon allows for warm air to pass through the cool Pacific sea surface temperatures and enter North America.
Along with warmer fall temperatures predicted, low precipitation is also expected.
Jeffrey Andresen is the state climatologist for Michigan. He said roughly 30% of the state is experiencing some form of dryness, or even moderate drought.
With abnormal dryness, fall crops will reach maturity faster, lowering the quality of the crop, said Andresen, who is also a professor of meteorology/climatology in the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University.
“It’s good to have warm soils and so forth for that crop to germinate, but we do need moisture,” Andresen said.
To combat warming temperatures, Andresen said people should keep their eyes on long-term trends and plan as needed.
“We have to adapt to these changing long-term patterns,” Andresen said.
Genevieve Fox reports for WKAR in partnership with Great Lakes Echo and Capital News Service.
Cold, rainy temperatures are part of the La Niña cycle. (pxhere.com)
Michiganders know that spring is usually late to arrive, yet we’re nearly two months past the Vernal Equinox and it has felt as though spring is still a few more weeks away. Luckily, temperatures are predicted to be much more favorable later this week, but this unusual cold spell has left many Michiganders curious as to why the frigid conditions that are typically characteristic of Michigan’s winter months have continued through March and April.
There’s a few factors that can explain why this has occurred. The first of which is the fact that we are in the midst of a La Niña year. La Niña is the cold water phase of a temperature cycle in the Tropical Pacific called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
According to the National Ocean Service, “During normal conditions in the Pacific ocean, trade winds blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia. To replace that warm water, cold water rises from the depths — a process called upwelling.”
During the infrequent La Niña years of this climate cycle, those trade winds are stronger, upwelling increases, and the prevalence of this cold water in the Pacific Ocean pushes the jet stream further north, which leads to colder temperatures and increased precipitation.
This time around, it seems as though La Niña is doing her a job a little too well.
“We have had a lot of precipitation, with an active storm track the past several weeks,” said Erin Ostuno at the Grand Rapids National Weather Service. “This has resulted in March and April being cloudy and much wetter than usual. The combination of March and April had over eight inches of rain/melted snow water. This ranks 11th wettest on record. April had 5.19 inches of precipitation, the 12th wettest April on record at Grand Rapids.”
La Niña has been working too well this season, bring an unusual amount of cold weather well into May. (climate.gov)
Talk about a great deal of precipitation. To make matters more intense, the jet stream that divides the northern and southern half of North America appears to have been pushed south this winter by high pressure zones that have formulated in the early spring near Greenland during a prolonged negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).
In a recent article from the Washington Post, “When the NAO is negative, the weather over the eastern U.S. tends to be colder than normal. Such a pattern was seldom seen during the core winter months, which resulted in generally above-normal temperatures.”
While we were fortunate enough to experience slightly warmer temperatures this past winter, it seems that inevitably, we would have to pay the price at some point, which we’ve been doing since late March. The tax for having such a mild winter and all that high pressure up north is the spilling of the jet stream further south, which is why we’ve seen frigid temperatures typical of January or February continue through March and April while the Pacific Southwest has experienced oddly higher temperatures.
Luckily for us, it’s not forecasted to continue this way for much longer. According to a 10-day forecast for Michigan Center from Weather.com, by the week of May 9th, we’ll see high temperatures begin to erupt into the 70s with lows persisting in the upper 50s, so it appears as though this wintry weather we’ve been experiencing will finally be behind us.
LANSING — After an unusually warm and stormy summer, the Great Lakes region has in store a “frosty flip-flop” winter, according to the 2021-22 Farmers’ Almanac forecast.
“By that, we mean one month it’s going to start out mild, and it’s going to get icy, it’s going to get snowy,” said Sandi Duncan, the publication’s managing editor. “It’s going be a mixed bag kind of winter.”
The month-to-month contrast follows an unusually stormy summer for the Great Lakes region, which the Almanac predicted to be “muggy and thundery” last April.
The buzzwords for the Great Lakes this winter are “icy and flaky,” the Almanac reports.
January is expected to begin mild with rain and wet snow, followed by 2-5 inches of snow possible in a storm at the end of the month, the publication predicts. February calls for bitter temperatures but little precipitation. March has been projected as snowy and stormy throughout the month.
What makes the Farmer’s Almanac so certain?
That’s hard to know. Its predictions do not include any type of computer satellite tracking or lore-based techniques, such as groundhogs, the publication reports. Its formula includes factors such as “sunspot activity, tidal action of the moon, the position of the planets and a variety of other factors.”
Atmospheric phenomena like El Nino and La Nina were not factors in the forecast, Duncan said. “Some people are saying La Nina might come into play, but we didn’t have a chance to factor that in.”
While the Almanac’s website claims an 80-85% accuracy rate, meteorologists have always suggested taking the Farmers’ Almanac’s predictions with a grain of salt.
In 2017, meteorologist Jan Null compared the accuracy of the almanac’s temperature and precipitation predictions with the actual results. Forecasts were graded as good, not good or mixed, depending on if they were predicted the same as they were observed.
Of the 34 precipitation regions compared, Null rated 21% as “good.” She rated 42% of the 33 temperature regions as good.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also releases a 90-day prediction forecast from its Climate Prediction Center. Unlike the Farmers’ Almanac, NOAA uses the most up-to-date technology and computer models.
“Covering December, January and February we’re favoring only slightly above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation which includes rain and snow for the Great Lakes,” NOAA meteorologist Brad Pugh said. “La Nina is currently present and we expect La Nina to persist through the winter.”
La Nina is an atmospheric phenomenon that is created by cooler than normal sea surface temperatures across the equatorial line in the central Pacific.
“It typically does lead towards a wetter winter for the Great Lakes region,” Pugh said.
The Farmers’ Almanac has been published since 1818 when it was created by astronomer and weather-watcher David Young, not to be confused with the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which was founded 26 years earlier in 1792 by Robert B. Thomas.
Beyond long-range weather forecasts, the online and print editions now offer gardening tips, natural remedies and recipes.
“Part of the long-lasting appeal of the Farmers’ Almanac is that it’s nostalgic and charming but it is also useful,” Duncan said. “We just stay current with the times and keep reminding people how to live a natural life.”
MSU Extension drainage specialist Ehsan Ghane
discusses controlled drainage strategies for farms at the Lenawee County Center for Excellence field day in August. Roughly 500 farmers attended. Credit: Jon Adamy, Michigan Farm Bureau.
By Andrea Vera Capital News Service
LANSING — Farmers are set to take on a growing number of challenges in the face of climate change.
Now waiting to be passed in the House, the bill would make it easier for farmers to participate in carbon markets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In a recent study of attitudes of West Michigan fruit growers, Julia Linder, a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Program in the Environment, explored the factors that influence how fruit growers adapt to climate change. She currently works as a research assistant at Michigan Medicine.
The goal of her project was to determine the influence of climate change beliefs and perception of climate risk and adaptive actions on management practices used by tree fruit growers.
The study involved 18 interviewees ranging from first-generation to fifth-generation growers with from 5 to 2,500 acres of fruit trees. It appeared in the journal “Weather, Climate and Society.”
“What we would’ve call ‘normal’ is no longer normal – so everything is becoming the new normal, if you will,” one grower said.
Laura Campbell of the Michigan Farm Bureau also identifies climate change as the biggest challenge faced by farmers because of its far-reaching effects on nearly every aspect of what they do.
Campbell, who manages the organization’s agricultural ecology department, said the public lacks familiarity with the inner workings of the agricultural sector, and that makes it difficult for them to conceptualize just how daunting climate change can be for farmers.
“People who don’t farm don’t understand why,” she said.
Bill Schultz, a fruit grower in Mattawan, has been farming his whole life.
His 250-acre family farm, Schultz Fruitridge Farms, is celebrating 70 years since his grandparents founded it in 1951.
Like many other growers interviewed for the study, Schultz has noticed increasing variability in seasonal weather patterns and says he must adapt accordingly.
“In the last five years, what I see as a grower is that the jet stream is becoming very anemic, and that causes a lot of other events to happen that don’t typically happen that frequently,” Schultz says.
He adds, “We see more extreme events happening more frequently.”
More droughts and flooding, heavier rainfall, higher temperatures and more unpredictable frosts are occurring across the country.
That proves especially difficult for Michigan’s tree fruit growers to handle.
That’s because perennial tree fruit crops are very susceptible to changes in temperature and weather patterns, unlike field crops such as corn, Linder’s study says.
Fruit trees in Michigan and other cold-weather locations in the Midwest and Northeast have adapted to undergo a winter dormancy period in which a tree stops growing to protect itself from frost damage.
Campbell said the growing unpredictability of both temperature and frost is a threat at the beginning of the season: An early spring warmup triggers the growth of blossoms, making them vulnerable to a frost event later in the season.
When blossoms die due to frost, the crop for the entire season is lost.
“Spring frosts are probably one of our biggest challenges,” Schultz said.
He recalled the devastation that followed the unprecedented warm up of March 2012 when temperatures reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit, then plunged back down to below freezing.
“We lost everything. I lost my job that year. I still had work to do, but we had no income. We laid everybody off, we had to take out a loan to pay our bills. It set us back years,” he said.
While frost events like those happened only once before in his life, Schultz has seen three frost events like those in the past 10 years.
Linder says that orchards require a long-term commitment and investment of a couple of decades because they are perennial.
Another study interviewee said, “In the row crop business it’s easier to see change, but in the fruit industry, we raise the same commodity for 25 years.”
That grower made it clear that adaptive behaviors are important to preserve the viability of that and future seasons’ crops when they rely on the same trees for decades.
Schultz primarily uses irrigation, frost fans and crop insurance to mitigate climate risk.
Such methods are used in reaction to weather events, but can have limited effectiveness, he says.
Alternatively, farmers can adopt proactive management practices to prepare for future climate scenarios, Linder wrote in her study.
“The goal is to increase a tree’s resilience to climate change,” she said.
There’s still much climate change research to do about perennial agriculture, she said.
As extreme events began threatening Schultz Fruitridge Farms more frequently, the Schultz family diversified from peaches to also grow asparagus, grapes, apples, sweet corn, pumpkins, blueberries and cherries.
They also opened a farm market and a farm-to-table restaurant where they sell their hard cider, donuts and craft beer.
That provided Schultz with a fallback if one of his crops were damaged for the season, but not all growers have the financial capability for such long-term preparations.
“Because it’s so much longer-term, there’s a large sense of uncertainty as to how climate in five, 10, 15, up to 20 years will look like and how growers can address [changing climate] now on their farms that will help them in those extended time periods,” Linder said.
It doesn’t come down to whether growers attribute climate change to anthropogenic – influenced or caused by human activity – causes, Linder added.
Campbell said of farmers, “They’re like any other population group. There’s no monolithic single opinion on how much of climate change is influenced by people.”
Linder wrote in the study, “Adoption of adaptation behaviors may depend less on belief in climate change than on an individual’s belief that they can adapt in a way that will adequately protect them from perceived risk.”
In other words, if growers aren’t confident that certain adaptive behaviors will be effective in protecting their crops, they won’t adopt them, sticking with methods they’ve traditionally used.
Linder said she noticed a lot of pessimism among growers that she interviewed when discussing their ability to adapt while responding to increasing weather variability. “On the flip side, something that was very clear was that there is a large sense of community between growers.”
Schultz said, “It’s very demoralizing. It doesn’t matter how smart, how good you are at your job. You can’t counteract Mother Nature.”
That’s where Linder suggested that university Extension programs participate in successful grower-led meetings and conferences, while shifting the focus toward the effects of climate change and how to address them.
“Addressing a lot of these climate changes is going to require collaboration – not only between growers and Extension workers, but also between growers themselves,” she said.
Along with record highs for the month of September comes another first for the month: school closings due to the heat.
Several area schools announced half days due to the high temperatures that were expected to reach 92 degrees today, according to the National Weather Service. Among those schools closing early today were Godfrey Lee Public Schools, Kentwood Public Schools, and Wyoming Public Schools. Godfrey Lee Public Schools also cancelled its TEAM 21 program for today. Kentwood Public Schools cancelled Arch and after school day care todayalong with tonight’s soccer game at East Kentwood High School.
From Kentwood Public Schools’ Facebook the district stated “The temperatures for this evening are again supposed to get down into the mid to low 60s which does cool off our buildings without air conditioning until around noon. We know this will provide some challenges for our parents but we needed to make a decision based on the safety of our students and staff.
From the National Weather Service
“We will again monitor the temperatures on Monday afternoon as the forecast for Tuesday is beginning to cool. We will try to make a decision for Tuesday by the same time tomorrow evening.”
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures for Tuesday are expected to reach 91 degrees with the weather starting to cool down on Wednesday.
School officials recommend residents and participants check with the school or district for delays or cancellations before heading out to attend any school-related function or event.
In 2016, the August 20 tornado outbreak across West Michigan caused more than five million dollars in damage. The National Weather Service determined that six tornadoes touched down in a matter of hours, including two EF0 tornadoes in Grandville, Wyoming and Grand Rapids. The State of Michigan was hit by 16 tornadoes last year, just slightly higher than the average 15 per year. Kent County has a system of sirens to alert residents of high winds or tornadoes. Starting Friday, April 7, and continuing on the first Friday of every month at noon through October, tornado alarm testing will be heard in Kent County homes and businesses.
Ideal Park was loved for its dense tree canopy now lost from the 2014 tornado.
It is important to plan in advance for disasters to know how you and your family will get to a safe place, how to contact each other and what to do in different situations. “Traffic was a dilemma in the initial hours after the tornadoes hit Kent County last August,” said Kent County Emergency Management Coordinator Jack Stewart. “Trees and debris in roadways made getting around difficult. Determine a location where you will meet your family during an emergency, both near your house and further away, in case your neighborhood streets are closed.”
If a disaster occurs, it may be easier to make a phone call to a designated out-of-town contact, as phone lines may be overwhelmed. Make sure that person is aware that he or she is the designated contact. Pet owners should have a disaster plan for pets as well. This is a great time to review severe weather plans, refresh supplies and make sure preparations are complete. Check flashlights and stock up on fresh batteries. Homes should have enough fresh drinking water and canned food items for three days, a can opener, an all-weather radio, and a first aid kit.
If you don’t hear the sirens April 7 at noon, please contact your local township or city office. Be vigilant whenever severe weather is in the forecast. While no location is completely safe from a tornado or severe thunderstorm, it is important to seek all possible protection. For more about severe weather, go to http://www.michigan.gov/documents/msp/SWApacket_554981_7.pdf.
Smartphone apps are available that will provide notification of weather watches and warnings. Severe weather watch means the potential exists for the development of storms/tornadoes, so be mindful of changing conditions. Severe weather warning mean that storms are imminent or occurring. Move indoors to a place of safety. If it is a Tornado Warning, take shelter in a location on the lowest level of the building, such as the basement, or in a small, windowless room at the innermost part of the building.
The City of Wyoming is weighing several different options for future carnival events.
Due to a late start followed by an early closure of its carnival, City of Wyoming officials expect its revenues to be “significantly” less than last year, coming in under $10,000, way below the $30,000 goal.
Wintry weather caused a delay in the opening of the spring carnival, moving the opening from Friday, April 8, to Monday, April 11. Despite the delay, city officials said if the weather cooperated, they felt they could make their goals.
The weather did turn warmer, but the city closed the carnival at various times on Thursday and Friday due to shooting incidents near the event. City officials officially announced the shutdown of the annual event at the former Studio 28 parking lot on the morning of April 16, about two days before the scheduled conclusion. City officials made the decision to close the carnival because of the shooting incidents. The first was on Thursday, April 14, when a 19-year-old man showed up at Metro Hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. While witnesses to the shooting were uncooperative, Wyoming police officers believed the this shooting took place in the parking lot next to 1350 28th St. SW.
On Friday, April 15, officers heard a gunshot in a parking lot south of the carnival. The officers witnessed a vehicle leaving and made a traffic stop, discovering two guns and arresting three people on weapon charges. Both events are still under investigation.
“We are still working on the final numbers,” said Wyoming’s Community Services Director Rebecca Rynbrandt about the carnival, adding that the city is working with the carnival vendor on expenses he had to incur do to the early closure.
“We are expecting our portion to be significantly less than what we had hoped,” Rynbrandt said. She said that the estimated amount is less than $10,000. Last year, the city earned about $26,000. The money from the carnival is split between the Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department and the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance (GWRCA). The Parks and Recreation Department uses the money to help with park needs. The GWRCA funds youth scholarships and youth and family programming through the Parks and Recreation Department.
Rynbrandt said officials will be reviewing park needs and funding along with meeting with GWRCA to assess funding and programs.
As for the future of the carnival, Rynbrandt said the city is still reviewing all of its options.
“One thing people should be aware is that carnivals themselves are not bad and provide wonderful services in the city of Wyoming,” Rynbrandt said, emphasizing that none of the incidents took place at the carnival. Rynbrandt added that city officials want to wrap up this year’s event and then take a step back to look at everything such as location and time of year.
“Our number one priority is public safety,” Rynbrandt said. “As sponsor of the event we hold ourselves to a much higher accountability in that regards.”
Captain Kim Koster, from the Wyoming Department of Public Safety echoed the city’s commitment to safety of its residents and visitors. With safety at the forefront, Koster said the department is working with other organizers on upcoming city events.
“Our Department of Public Safety has and will continue to worked with the Wyoming Kentwood Chamber of Commerce and the participating businesses to determine and provide the appropriate level of police presence for the Metro Cruise, and we are always happy to work with other community organizations to plan for similar events.,” Koster said. “Similarly, public safety has worked with the Community Clean-Up Day [which takes place this Saturday] committee to determine the appropriate level of police presence for the day’s activities.”
With the forecast of possible snow on Friday, officials from the City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department announced today that due to the weather, it would be delaying the opening of its Spring Carnival to Monday, April 11.
“With today’s weather and reviewing the pending forecast for the rest of the week, safety during the carnival set up and for attendees has required us to delay opening,” officials stated in a press release sent to WKTV. The Weather Channel is reporting snow for Thursday and Friday with break on Saturday and snow again on Sunday. It is supposed to rain on Monday with the weather clearing by Tuesday.
Due to schedules, the Spring Carnival will be shorten from ten days to seven. City of Wyoming Community Services Director Rebecca Rynbrandt said the decision to delay start was mutual one made by both city officials and the carnival vendor.
The annual event, which was scheduled to start on Friday, is now scheduled to run from 4 – 10 p.m. Monday – Thursday, April 11 – 15; noon – 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 15 – 16; and 1 – 10 p.m. Sunday, April 17. The carnival is located in the parking lot of the former Studio 28 theaters, 1400 28th St. SW.
A staple in the city for more than 30 years, proceeds from the carnival will be split between the Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department and the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance (GWCRA). GWRCA funds support youth scholarships and youth and family programming through the Parks and Recreation Department. The GWCRA will also distribute funds to the community through its annual grant making process.
The Parks and Recreation Department will use its funds to help with park needs such as updating playground equipment, ball field matts and bases and tennis court nets.
“It really is a great opportunity to go out and enjoy the carnival while at the same time giving back to your community,” Rynbrandt said.
Last year, the event raised $26,000. The goal for this year is $30,000. Of course events like these are weather dependent and the shortening of the event could impact the goal, but the overall safety of the carnival workers and those attending is the city’s first priority, Rynbrandt said.
“The carnival will be open in the evenings and on the weekend of April 15, 16, and 17,” Rynbrandt said. “If we have four really great days, we can still meet our goal.”
The admission cost is $15 Monday—Thursday and $20 Friday—Sunday. The Parks and Recreation Department has $3-off coupons available on its Facebook page.
This year’s sponsors are the City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department, T.J. Schmidt & Co. and Loeks Theatres Inc.
For more information on the carnival, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 530-3164.
