I imagine Michigan (away from the lakes anyway) is something like Minnesota in that it gets both extremes of hot and cold. Meteorological summer begins today and the weather is taking its cue - we may have record highs this weekend in the low-to-mid-90s F (35C) - more that 110F warmer than what we had last winter.  

Add Ontario to that list ^.  

Posted by: @queenluthevaliant

On a cool day you can feel refreshed and if you feel a little cold then you could wear a sweater. In the winter it is SOOOO FUN to play in the snow.

Ditto!  

Speaking of refreshing weather, we are not having that, beginning this weekend. The heat and humidity will start to climb on Friday, with rain moving in tomorrow (glad for the rain; we need it again), but over the weekend the humidex could be up around 40C / 104F. More like July weather!

I am sure glad all my weeks of planting gardens are now done, as it's much nicer doing this for days on end in cooler temps. Now it's a matter of maintaining—weeding, watering, etc—a daily task, which I enjoy too, as we anticipate harvest later on.

Sadly, my regular early morning walks are coming to an end as nighttime temps rise too much for my brisk jaunts. Really going to miss them. Ah well, all in good time again.  

@stargazer

Yes, it usually cooler on the shores of Lake Michigan than farther inland.  We have humidity often during the summer months, although it does not last so long when compared to winter’s cold. So Michigan is more of a cold state than a hot one. 🙂

Posted by: @jo

The heat and humidity will start to climb on Friday, with rain moving in tomorrow (glad for the rain; we need it again), but over the weekend the humidex could be up around 40C / 104F. More like July weather!

Yeah it was sooo hot out I could not stand it but I stayed out side for a little and when I went inside it waas still hot. It is like July weather also I was glad for the rain when I went to get my sneakers so they wouldn't get wet I felt the rain (because the rain just started) and it was really nice like it was not that cold and the rain was nice to sort of. I hope the weather will not be so hot but it is turning summer so I need to prepare!

@Narnian78, I've always considered Michigan similar to Minnesota - we're famous for our cold, but do have these hot, humid periods in the summer. I've met people who seem surprised that it can get to 100F here.

We're close to today's record high (96F/36C).  Tomorrow's record high is only 92F/33C and we should crush that.

The low temperature this morning was only 73F/23C, setting a record for the warmest minimum temperature for today (meteorology is like sports - there's a record for everything). Our average high this time of year is 73, so this is unusual. I'm planning on staying indoors whenever I can, though I hope to stargaze tonight even if it's hot.

You have been consistently warmer than us the past few weeks @stargazer, which is bizarre to me. Today's high is either 86F or 88F depending on which source I check. All I know is that I was out picking cherries off my tree and I was afraid I was going to get a sunburn!

If this keeps up, wheat harvest will be starting very soon. After the rainy season we had for a while there, we figured it'd be a while still. Most years, my husband's family finishes up before Father's Day. I don't think we'll quite make that this year, but you never know!

@stargazer

The Great Lakes moderate our temperatures here in Michigan. It seldom gets warmer than 100 degrees in summer, and if it is colder than ten below zero in winter it only lasts a few days.  I don’t know how long the cold or heat lasts in Minnesota. I like having moderate temperatures and four distinct seasons.  🙂

We do have some light pollution here, and I am afraid the problem is growing with the increasing population since it is considered very desirable to live here in the Grand Rapids/Holland/Zeeland area.  But there is one advantage in that the area is mostly safe for stargazing. There was only one time that a telescope was vandalized in an observatory about thirty miles away from here. This happened about thirty years ago. On the whole crime at night is pretty rare here in the small towns.

@Narnian78, I guess Michigan is more temperate than I expected, but that makes sense given that it's almost surrounded by water. The only area in Minnesota moderated by the Great Lakes is the shore of Lake Superior in the northeast part of the state.

100 is rather rare in this part of the state as well (the Twin Cities). At 97F, yesterday was the hottest day in 3 years, though today will be hotter. The most 100-degree readings in a single summer (in the past 60 years) was 4 in 1988 (a summer I remember all too well, alas). The Dust Bowl days of the 1930s were hotter but before even my time. 😉

The northwest part of the state, where the Great Plains gradually transition to the northern forests, is almost always hotter in the summer, and 100F is much more common there.

We appear to be colder than Michigan, however. Even here in the south-central part of the state, -20F/-29C is not that unusual. The northern parts can routinely reach -40, though that seems less common now than in the 1970s and early 80s (which were statistically colder than now).

Parts of the UP get a lot more snow than we do, due to lake effect (I knew someone who worked in Houghton so I heard some horror stories).

We tied today's record high of 92F/33C before noon, with the race to 100F on in full force. Whew!

Edit:

@fantasia, it is odd to me as well. I remember some of those hot days of Kansas moots! The UV index here is very high, so sunburn can occur in 15 minutes they say.

@Narnian78, I've grown used to light pollution since I've lived in the Twin Cities area (population approaching 4 million) for so long. It makes trips to dark sky sites pretty special, even if they've been more unusual lately due to the pandemic. And I could share some humorous (in hindsight) stories about stargazing adventures, including one involving several dozen law enforcement officers shining lights and pointing weapons at us (this was back in the 80s, right after a high profile kidnapping incident here. People driving by reported us and claimed the telescope was a gun. ;)) )

Our cool days have officially come to an end. This week has temps well into the mid-90Fs, so we're trying to catch up with you northerners  

All spring, all my husband and I heard about from our kids was how much they were looking forward to getting our pool put back up. We have a big load of dirt coming tomorrow so we can level out the ground real well and as soon as that's done, the pool is going back in! Woohoo!

Posted by: @stargazer

I remember some of those hot days of Kansas moots!

Yes! Except, I maintain that the dry heat of Kansas is more bearable (barely ) than our humid, moist summers here in Ontario. Still, I don't care for either, especially since our hot, humid stretch is continuing here for a couple more days. Wednesday evening should bring relief. We have a fair bit of rain this week, making the air is so thick. What's that expression, stargazer ... "air you can wear"? Yep.   But we need the rain, so glad for that!

That is one humorous story of the 'telescope-gun', stargazer. The police must have got quite a kick out of that too ... once they realized all was good.

Posted by: @fantasia

This week has temps well into the mid-90Fs, so we're trying to catch up with you northerners

You're finally catching up, eh? What fun the kids will have in the pool after you get that dirt leveled out.  

@narnian78, in southern Ontario Lake Ontario moderates those cities close to that large body of water. We live in between Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario (southwestern Ontario), but most of our weather influence comes from Lake Huron, which means our winters are more severe than eastward down the escarpment an hour away. But since I'm a fan of cold weather, I'm totally okay with this.     

Try to keep cool, @queenluthevaliant! I will too.  

And we're back to reasonable temperatures once more--a chilly 12C this morning, with rain and snow on the mountains that came a good quarter of the way down the slopes.  This, after a week of scorching 36C, that caused dire prognostications of drought and imminent wildfire season.  We'll see, once things start heating up again in July; for now, we enjoy the cool *goes to find socks*

@jo

The moderation of the weather in the area where I live comes mostly from Lake Michigan. It is the Holland-Zeeland area of western Michigan, where the lake has much influence. I have been to Stratford, Ontario many years ago to the Shakespeare festival. So that’s probably the closest that I have traveled to where you live. I remember the Blue Water bridge at Port Huron.  There is much water in that area of the U.S. and Canada.

@aileth, -12C sounds glorious right now. It's just hot and humid here now, with that 'air you can wear,' with a heat index of 95F/35C - and it's early in the afternoon, with hours of heating yet to go.

On average, we get 13 days a summer over 90F/32C (hey, don't laugh too hard - we're known for cold, not heat, and get many more nights than that, that are below 0F/-17C each winter). Today is the 6th consecutive day, with three more a shoo-in (that 9 day stretch will actually be good enough for third place locally for consecutive days over 90. Not surprisingly, the record of 14 came in the Dust Bowl days of 1936).

Summers are short here and sometimes I feel guilty if I don't get out and enjoy them. But this is not one of those times. 😉

@Stargazer: @aileth, -12C sounds glorious right now. It's just hot and humid here now, with that 'air you can wear,' with a heat index of 95F/35C - and it's early in the afternoon, with hours of heating yet to go.

Ouch! You can keep such cold temperatures! It is winter here, & though nights & mornings have been in the low single digits, even minus degrees, especially in Canberra, with a bit of frost on rooftops & front lawns here as well, it is predicted to get colder as the winter rains move in for the rest of the week. Adelaide is already shivering from Antarctic blasts & that cold weather front is due to arrive shortly. 

Posted by: @stargazer

@aileth, -12C sounds glorious right now.

It surely does! But these nasty hot, humid days are about to come to an end (for now ) as of tomorrow. More seasonable weather is settling in for quite a spell, whew relief!

Stay warm, wagga!  

Just a brief non-related topic comment:

Posted by: @narnian78

I have been to Stratford, Ontario many years ago to the Shakespeare festival.

Stratford is about 40 minutes north and a bit west of us. A group of NarniaWebbers went to see LWW there back in 2016.

But back on topic, We have yet to face July (our hottest, most humid month), but I am mentally prepared. I think.