COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The effects of El Nino on the weather in Branch County and Michigan eased up a bit for the past couple of weeks but that’s about to change and it’s not the greatest timing for Ice Fest 2016 coming up Saturday in downtown Coldwater. Actually, it will be pretty nice conditions for walking around checking out all the activities, it’s just that the cool ice carvings and statues probably won’t be around long after the weekend.
So the east gets socked by blizzards, and the weather around here hasn’t exactly been balmy lately, and that has some asking what happened to El Nino and the promise of a milder winter? Forecasters say it will be back. National weather service Meteorologist Evan Webb says even with what they are calling a “Godzilla El Nino” pumping heat in the South Pacific, there are going to be times when the jet stream briefly meanders to the south, allowing snow showers, after all it’s late January and February in Michigan.
The mild stuff is already making a comeback, with the sun coming out this past weekend. We could hit 40 later today, and their 3-month forecast predicts more mild temperatures ahead. Groundhog Day is a week from tomorrow.
