Does it seem like it’s been a sunnier winter in Michigan? MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa says the National Weather Service got rid of the instruments that track sunshine in Michigan, but the conditions have been ripe for more sunny days in what is normally the nation’s 7th cloudiest state.
If you have a warmer than normal December, and warmer than normal January, and not much snow in those time periods, you cut down on lake effect clouds,” says Torregrossa. “Therefore that’s a big chunk of our cloudiness in Michigan in the winter and so you do get some more sunshine.”
Then in February it turned very cold, and cold air doesn’t hold moisture to make clouds. Torregrossa says there will certainly be cloudy days ahead, but heading into March, Michigan is definitely over the hump of the cloudiest time of year.
