Detroit, MI

Metro Detroit drought monitor: How dry is it, and will it get worse?

Published

3 years ago

July 1, 2022

Metro Detroit drought monitor: How dry is it, and will it get worse?

You’ve in all probability seen it in your personal neighborhood however, if not, you’ve actually seen it round city: lawns are turning brown.

And in the event you’re one who waters, prepare for a much bigger than typical water invoice. Sure, it’s been dry round right here these days. And sure, we’ve had summer season dry spells up to now. So, let’s put this into correct perspective and context and see how dry it truly is.

There are lots of methods to have a look at our rain, or lack thereof. Check out the calendar beneath, and I’ve coloured the times during which it rained in inexperienced (all statistics are from Metro Airport).

Drought graphics. (WDIV)

You see that we’ve had twelve days with rain this month, and eight of the twelve rain days occurred through the first half of the month. Since then, we’ve solely had 4 days with rain. However wait…there’s extra! You additionally see that I’ve circled the sixth, seventh and eighth.

That’s as a result of we obtained 1.65 inches of complete rain on these three days. Since that point, we’ve obtained solely 0.48 inches – a span of twenty-two days. That, mixed with the new climate we’ve had, has actually dried out the soil…to not point out the very dry air, which has exacerbated evaporation. Thursday, the relative humidity in components of our space was solely 25%!

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Right here’s one other approach to have a look at how dry it’s:

Drought graphics. (WDIV)

We’ll end June with 2.35 inches of complete rain – most of which fell through the first half of the month. That’s nicely below our long-term common June rainfall of three.26 inches. And try final yr (you bear in mind what occurred final yr): we had over 5 inches of rain in June 2021. Bear in mind these floods? What a distinction a yr makes.

One other methodology to evaluate our soil situations is with the Drought Monitor, which is put out weekly by The Nationwide Drought Mitigation Middle on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Drought graphics. (WDIV)

Up to now this spring and summer season, southeast Michigan had not been highlighted, however that modified with this week’s bulletin, which now places many areas north of I-69 within the Abnormally Dry class or, as I wish to name it, “Pre-Drought.” Take into account that the Drought Monitor is calculated for every area primarily based upon extra than simply rainfall statistics. There’s a human judgment issue concerned and, if situations worsen, I’m fairly assured that we’ll see a fast enlargement of that space, and even perhaps Reasonable Drought situations, on the map within the subsequent week or two.

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So is there any reduction in sight? Sure and no. As you’ll have heard, we’ve an opportunity for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Let’s hope we get some strong downpours as a result of, after that, it’ll be sunny, scorching and dry proper by way of the vacation weekend. After that, a scattered bathe or thunderstorm is feasible Tuesday and Wednesday, however these likelihood is iffy.

If we don’t get any rain these two days, then we could not get any rain subsequent week by way of subsequent weekend, as it seems that a big space of excessive stress will reestablish itself over the Nice Lakes late within the week.

And long term?

Drought graphics. (WDIV)

The Local weather Prediction Middle’s July outlook places Michigan within the “Equal Possibilities” space. That implies that there isn’t a strong local weather sign suggesting that we’ll pattern above or beneath common for month-to-month rainfall. Whereas that will not imply a lot to you, once I take a look at this map, I see above common rainfall within the southwest and southeast, with that beneath common space over a big a part of the central U.S.

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That means to me that, IF we have been to pattern in both course, we’d extra seemingly pattern towards the beneath common space. However there’s one essential caveat: you already know in addition to I do that each one it takes is one giant, heavy thunderstorm to skew the statistics. If such a storm hits Metro Airport sooner or later in July and dumps two-and-a-half inches of rain, on the finish of the month we’d seemingly have an above common rainfall statistic for that location whereas, with out that one storm, it may in any other case find yourself nicely beneath common.

As a lot as all of us love our heat summer season days, at this level we want a strong all-day soaker that offers us an inch or two of rain. Not an excessive amount of abruptly…only a regular rain that’s given time to soak into the bottom and recharge our soil moisture. And keep in mind that, whereas a garden turning brown is an inconvenience for you, farmers have a way more vested curiosity within the rain than you and I.

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Michigan is a serious agricultural state, and the crops should not solely essential for our economic system, however all of us love to pick contemporary produce at our native grocery retailer and farmers’ markets. The place do you assume all of that meals comes from? If we transition into full-fledged drought situations, that meals could have to come back from some other place.

Let the rain reign! However only for a day or two: I don’t wish to preserve transferring my tee instances.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit-Washington game includes astronomical ticket prices

Published

6 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Detroit-Washington game includes astronomical ticket prices

Lions players prepare for Commanders

Jennifer Hammond reports from Allen Park on Tuesday where Lions players met the media to discuss their upcoming matchup with the Washington Commanders in the NFC Divisional Playoff on Saturday night at Ford Field.

(FOX 2) – It’s become apparent that three things are guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and astronomical Detroit Lions ticket prices.

Sticker shock may have set in at the end of the season as the Lions clinched the NFC North division in the last game of the season when they played the Minnesota Vikings, but that hasn’t stopped the price from climbing.

With Ford Field set to host the team’s first playoff game this weekend, fans are discovering the cheapest prices for the Lions-Commanders game are higher than tickets to three other playoff games combined.

By the numbers:

Of the four playoff games taking place this weekend, it is the Detroit vs. Washington matchup on Saturday night that will break the bank the most. Here are the lowest prices, according to Vividseats:

Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs – $102
Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions – $418
Los Angeles Rams vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $201
Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills – $123

It won’t come as a surprise that the cheapest tickets are ones on the upper deck near the endzones. For a spot closer to the field, prepare to shell out more than a thousand.

The cheapest seats aren’t the only way to gauge the cost of going to the game.

On the social platform X, ESPN’s Field Yates cited TickPick, which tracks ticket prices, when he said the average price for a ticket to the Lions game is $991 – making it the most expensive non-Super Bowl NFL game ever.

StubHub, another ticket reseller, said the Commanders-Lions game was outselling the second-best-selling game between the Ravens and Bills by 188%.

Dig deeper:

The discovery of expensive tickets is a product of having a successful sports team.

Some unsuspecting fans have gotten burned by scammers as a result. One fan lost $400 on Facebook after trying to purchase two tickets for himself and his son.

StubHub has some quick tips for anyone who does plan on buying tickets:

Don’t pay cash
Use a trusted service
Don’t share ticket barcodes on social media

Additionally, buyers should be wary of anyone on social media selling tickets – especially accounts offering bargains on tickets that appear to be too good to be true.

“The game between the Commanders and Lions has all the makings of a high-demand matchup – a team that just won its first playoff game since 2006 competing against America’s favorite team. It’s the hottest ticket of the weekend by far, nearly tripling the sales of the other divisional round games,” said Adam Budelli, a spokesperson with StubHub.

Detroit LionsFord Field

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Detroit, MI

Detroit gets millions from feds to install ‘high-speed’ EV chargers

Published

14 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Detroit gets millions from feds to install ‘high-speed’ EV chargers

Tim Slusser says the city of Detroit has an end goal for its electric vehicle charging infrastructure plans.

“In the future, you won’t be any farther than 3 to 5 miles from a charging station no matter where you are in the city of Detroit,” Slusser, the city’s chief of mobility innovation, told the Free Press on Tuesday.

A new federal grant award to the city and region should help.

On Friday, the city of Detroit and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments were awarded almost $15.2 million to boost EV charging in the region. This grant, along with a similar $23.4 million grant last year, are expected to help the city install more than 100 “high-speed” EV charging stations across 40 locations, according to the announcement Tuesday.

The latest grant to Detroit and the region were part of a wider announcement from the Federal Highway Administration for 49 projects nationwide funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Currently, Detroit has around 300 public and private charging stations, close to 30 of which are DC fast charging, which are “as close to the gas station experience as you can get,” Slusser said, noting that’s simply not enough.

Those locations include places like recreation centers and even Meijer stores, Slusser said.

“We really wanted to address some remaining gaps in our EV infrastructure strategy as well as to tie those assets into some other transportation modalities,” Slusser said, referencing locations where drivers can park and access scooters, bike share or other transit options.

Outside the city, SMART bus park and ride and carpool lots will be areas of focus. The goal is to have higher speed chargers along major corridors and places where shorter charging times are important. Slower speed, Level 2 chargers that deliver approximately 25 miles of range per hour plugged in, would be located in areas where people might plan to leave their vehicle while they grab a bite to eat or see a show.

The intent is also to give a wide range of people access to EV charging, including those living in multifamily units, and to reduce vehicle emissions in the city.

Mayor Mike Duggan, in a news release, said “electric vehicles are the future of the auto industry and Detroit is going to support that shift by making sure we have a network of safe, convenient and easy-to-find high-speed charging stations for people to use.”

Slusser said specific locations should be available soon. The release noted that installation of the first stations are expected to take place in the spring, with all chargers installed over the next few years. The effort is being marketed as the Detroit Charge Ahead: Clean Commute Program.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

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