End-of-week heat sets multiple records for Traverse City

May 14—TRAVERSE CITY — Thursday's peak temperature in Traverse City was one for the books.

The high temperature of 96 degrees Thursday shattered the record high for May 12 in Traverse City, according to the National Weather Service. Previously, the highest recorded temperature for that day in the area was 86 degrees, set in 1944.

Thursday also set the all-time warmest temperature in the month of May for Traverse City and the earliest time in the year in which Traverse City hit 95 degrees or warmer. Prior to this year, 95 degrees was the highest May temperature for Traverse City and the earliest temperature reading of 95 or above in the city was on May 20, 1977.

Jeff Lutz, NWS Gaylord meteorologist, said the snap of high, 90-degree-plus heat was the result of jet streams that moved over the West Coast, which caused high heat in the Pacific Northwest and northern Lower Michigan.

On Friday, NWS warned of elevated fire damage, which is caused by the over 75 degree heat, low humidity and 15-mile-per-hour-plus winds. The warning is primarily for land management agencies in the area, such as the National Forest Service, but it is also a warning to people to not burn debris or to keep a close eye on their campfires.

Right now, high temperatures can especially lead to fire danger because of how dry the grass and the trees are from the winter, Lutz said.

As the area grows more green and lush, the risk of fire will decrease.

There is also a marginal risk for severe weather on Saturday, Lutz said, as the potential for thunderstorms rolls in.

"Because we've had so much heat, now we've got the cold front coming through," Lutz said. "And when the cold front butts up against the really warm temperatures, it helps to really push the thunderstorms out there."

Temperatures next week are expected to fall back to the mid-60s — typical May weather for the region — and Lutz said NWS does not expect any more 90-degree days in May this year.

"Usually, these are pretty short-lived in May that we don't usually run much more than a few days where it gets extremely warm," Lutz said.

The jump in temperature also poses a potential threat to agriculture because the warm weather encourages crops to start growing and flower or bud. Paired with temperatures in the mid-30s and below, which are in upcoming forecasts, those crops can be threatened by frost, Lutz said.

The 90-degree heat also meant fast growth for cherry trees and great weather for bees to pollinate.

At the tail-end of the week, Joe Grant said he watched the sweet cherry trees on his family's farms in Leelanau County bloom rapidly during the snap of hot weather the past few days.

"To me, it's unbelievable," Grant said. "Three days ago, you didn't see anything. And three days later, they're in full bloom."

The Grants' sweet cherry trees look "tremendously better" than last year, Grant said. Last spring, the Grants' trees bloomed but the temperatures were still too low for the bees to come out and pollinate them.

The recent heat has potentially dried up some of the pollen and nectar, but also encouraged bees and other natural pollinators to be out pollinating all day, Grant said.

"So, I'm optimistic," Grant said. "I think we're going to have a big crop anyway, or at least better than the last couple years."

Jim Nugent, a fruit grower from Suttons Bay, said the high heat caused his sweet cherries to bloom more rapidly as well. In recent years, his sweet cherries have taken anywhere between two and six days to fully bloom.

This year, that process happened almost entirely within one day.

Because the high heat caused the cherries to bloom so rapidly, Nugent said his biggest concern is whether or not the bees will have enough time to pollinate.

"They will definitely pollinate, it's just a matter of getting around to as many flowers as we need them to to get to a really big crop," Nugent said. "But we may end up with just a nice moderate crop ... it's kind of a hard one for me to know what's going to happen because I've never seen a bloom this hot."

Despite regular anxieties that surround the growing — how frost and the on-and-off weather will affect the fruit trees — Nugent said this week has been a "wonderful time to be a fruit grower."

"It's just a wonderful time to be out in the orchard. I absolutely love it," Nugent added. "The trees look so beautiful and there's this wonderful aroma. And the bees are flying, so there's just a hum in the orchard if you just go out and stand and listen."