Michigan
Updated winter temp forecast just got warmer for Michigan, here’s why
Long-range weather forecasts are always updated gradually as we get closer to the time period of the forecast. The winter forecast has just been updated by NOAA’s long-range forecasting experts. There’s a meaningful tweak to Michigan’s winter temperature forecast.
The tweak to the December to February temperature forecast for Michigan is to a slightly warmer scenario than the winter forecast issued one month ago. NOAA does update what they call the seasonal forecasts, which are three-month forecasts. They give us an update once a month. Yesterday the updated extended forecasts were issued.
Here’s the newest December to February temperature forecast. Just below the latest forecast I have the previous forecast for you to compare the changes.
Notice much of Lower Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula have been shifted into an area that leans toward having a warmer than normal winter. This first level into warmer than normal temperatures would imply it will be a slightly warmer than normal winter, if this forecast verifies as correct.
Latest issuance of winter temperature forecast, issued September 19, 2024NOAA
You can see the previous forecast last month had NOAA indicating it thought our winter temperatures could fall either to just slightly colder than normal to just slightly warmer than normal. Of course in that type of forecast a near normal temperature for winter is the most likely scenario.
Previous issuance of winter temperature forecast, issued August 15, 2024NOAA
Now NOAA leans toward us having a slightly warmer than normal winter.
So why the change? There’s a great reason. La Niña was one of the conditions expected to develop now or soon and influence our winter weather. La Niña is the opposite of El Niño. La Niña is said to be occurring when a large part of the Pacific Ocean along the equator turns colder than normal.
Well, La Niña is being slow to develop. The newest computer model projections produce only a weak La Niña and for only a short duration. The weak La Niña won’t produce the weather effects a strong La Niña would have produced. A strong La Niña often makes a cold winter for the Pacific Northwest into the northern Plains. While the really cold sign fades in Wisconsin, we find the cold air is close enough to occasionally leak into Michigan. With a weak La Niña we may not see a large pool of very cold air just to our northwest.
So for the winter temperature forecast we go back to the 800-pound gorilla of extended forecasting now – global warming. With warmer oceans and rapidly warming polar regions, it’s just harder to have sustained BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. Sorry I have to shout at you. I do this to protect myself. This doesn’t mean you might not think it’s cold. I don’t know what you call cold. But to have a long-lasting several month period of extreme cold is going to be very hard to do in the current cycle of a warming globe.
What does this new forecast mean in real useful terms? It means we likely have several stretches of a few days to a week when afternoon temperatures warm above freezing in the middle of winter. This means if we get nasty ice packed roads from a snowstorm or ice storm, it will melt off in a week or two.
The La Niña was predicted to last into early summer and then fade to what we call neutral conditions- neither El Niño or La Niña going on. Now the latest models show the La Niña ending sometime between February and April.
You’ll still need your winter coat based on this latest winter forecast update. You just might not need it every day this winter.
In a game Michigan had to have by any means, it found a way. The Wolverines trailed for over 36 minutes at home on Tuesday night, gave up 50 points in the first half, and made just one of their final 15 3-point attempts. Somehow, Michigan won anyway, knocking off No. 5 Nebraska to keep its Big Ten title hopes healthy.
The Wolverines survived the barrage of early threes and outlasted the undermanned Huskers, recording stops on eight of the final nine possessions of the game to pull away with a game-winning 6-0 run down the stretch.
Writing this recap, I can’t help but feel like I’m on the other side of a script that I’ve written routinely on this site over the years. We’ve all seen this story before: a five-out team spreads out a bigger, more talented team and makes them look like they’ve never played basketball before with a barrage of threes and cutting layups.
In the end, the threes go cold, and the bigger team wins the game by overwhelming its opponent in areas that are impossible to outscheme: offensive rebounds, defense, and free throws.
When John Beilein’s teams lost, this is usually what it looked like. Tonight, Michigan wore the other shoe.
Nebraska played the better game, but Michigan was the bigger, deeper, and more talented team. The Wolverines went to the free-throw line 23 times, knocking down 14 of 17 in the second half, and scored 14 of their 27 second-half points on second-chance opportunities to escape with the crucial home win.
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Michigan
Michigan football releases 2026 schedule for first season under head coach Kyle Whittingham
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan Athletic Department and the Big Ten Conference announced the 2026 football schedule for the first season under new head coach Kyle Whittingham and his Michigan Wolverines.
The schedule, which features eight home games, including all four in September, was announced on Tuesday (Jan. 27).
Michigan will kick off its 147th football season with three non-conference home games: Western Michigan on Sept. 5, Oklahoma on Sept. 12, and UTEP on Sept. 19.
Following these, the Wolverines will begin their nine-game Big Ten schedule.
The conference opener will be at home against Iowa on Sept. 26, marking Michigan’s 120th Big Ten conference opener at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan’s first road game of the season will be Oct. 3 at Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium.
The Wolverines and Golden Gophers will compete for the Little Brown Jug, college football’s oldest trophy, in the 100th meeting of this historic rivalry.
Michigan holds a commanding 74-23-2 record in the previous 99 contests.
After a bye week, Michigan returns home for back-to-back games against Penn State on Oct. 17 and defending national champion Indiana on Oct. 24.
The Wolverines will then travel to Rutgers for an Oct. 31 game.
The annual rivalry game against Michigan State has been pushed back a week and will take place Nov. 7 at Michigan Stadium.
The two teams will battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy in the 74th meeting of this series.
Michigan leads the series 42-29-2 and holds a 75-38-5 advantage overall in the rivalry, which dates back to 1898.
The Wolverines will then travel to Eugene, Oregon, for their first matchup against the Ducks as conference opponents on Nov. 14 at Autzen Stadium.
A week later, the Wolverines will host new Big Ten opponent UCLA at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 21.
The regular season will conclude with the 122nd meeting of “The Game” against Ohio State on Nov. 28 at Ohio Stadium.
Michigan has won its last two trips to Columbus, 45-23 in 2022 and 13-10 in 2024, and holds a 62-53-6 advantage in the all-time series.
| Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Sept. 5 | Western Michigan |
| Sept. 12 | Oklahoma Sooners |
| Sept. 19 | UTEP |
| Sept 26 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Oct. 3 | at Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Oct. 10 | BYE |
| Oct. 17 | Penn State Nitanny Lions |
| Oct. 24 | Indiana Hoosiers |
| Oct. 31 | at Rutgers Scarlett Knights |
| Nov. 7 | Michigan State |
| Nov. 14 | at Oregon Ducks |
| Nov. 21 | UCLA Bruins |
| Nov. 28 | at Ohio State Buckeyes |
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Michigan
Michigan student who left frat party in just T-shirt and jeans found dead in ‘extreme cold’
A missing University of Michigan student has been found dead more than a day after he was last seen leaving a fraternity party in just a T-shirt and jeans in bone-chilling storm temperatures, according to police.
Engineering student Lucas Mattson, 19, was last seen walking without a jacket at around 1 a.m. Friday, as temperatures plummeted as low as 0 degrees, WILX reported.
His body was found Saturday night following a 20-hour search in “extreme cold conditions,” police said.
Mattson is one of at least 34 to die from Winter Storm Fern, which impacted more than two-thirds of all Americans.
“At this time, we can share that prior to disappearing, Lucas was attending a party at a fraternity house as a guest; he was neither a member nor a pledge,” University of Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso said in a statement, warning against “misinformation” spreading about his death around the school community.
“We must let the investigators complete their work and refrain from speculation until the facts are known.”
Mattson was reported missing at 4:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department. Officers spent the whole night searching but were unable to find him.
His body was later located Saturday night on Cambridge Road, cops said.
“The nearly 20-hour search effort to locate him took place in extreme cold conditions and included officers from AAPD and University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, as well as the University of Michigan Police Department Drone Unit,” police said in a press release.
There were no signs of trauma and foul play is not suspected at this time, cops said.
The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, police said.
Grasso said he’s asked school officials to retrace the events of the night Mattson disappeared “to better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
“I am grateful for the outpouring of support from so many people worried about Lucas’s welfare, including those who searched for him in extremely difficult weather conditions,” the university president said.
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