the truth about ann arbor
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7/13/2006
The weather: I doubt you could find better weather in the United States than the summer and fall in Michigan. You can count on gorgeous weather between June and through September. We often get a few gorgeous, 80-degree days in April that tease us, and then it always manages to get cold again be it in April, May or early June. This cold spell only lasts less than a week. The summer is sometimes humid, but often is the perfect level of humidity and dryness. It usually varies from 75-85 degrees, though it can and does reach the low 90s. September is our best weather month. It's dry and sunny, usually in the mid- high 70s. Absolutely perfect. During the summer months, traffic is HORRIBLE. It's honestly ridiculous, due to so many people going up north for the weekend and mostly because of construction. CONSTRUCTION IS THE WORST IN MICHIGAN DURING THE SUMMER. October is a gamble. It's not odd for it to snow, though in most recent years, it hasn't snowed until closer to Thanksgiving. Sometimes it will be in the 70s in October, but it's usually relatively dry. November, January and February (December seems to be more bearable because of the holidays) are horrendous. During this time (unless you have a cabin way up north and love winter sports, and drive a 4WD), it is GRAY. DISMAL. And often there is no snow, but freezing rain. This has been a relatively new phenomenon - having freezing rain instead of snow. When I was a kid we had about 10 snow days each year, now kids are lucky to have 1 or 2 because the snow just doesn't fall in SE Michigan like it used to. If you want thick snow, you have to drive about 3 hours north. SE Michigan winters are enough to make some people leave everything to move to a warmer climate. I recommend saving up vacation days for the winter, buy yourself a plane ticket to Florida or the Caribbean for a week in February. Otherwise, you might go crazy.
MICHIGAN in general: There are tons of beautiful places in Michigan, even some in SE Michigan though it is largely developed for farm land and urban areas. The suburbs keep growing and taking up beautiful land. But, especially around ANN ARBOR, there are many parks, including the massive Waterloo Recreation Area and a variety of metro-parks that are beautiful, peaceful and a great place to spend time. Up north (which refers to anything north of Mt. Pleasant) and the west side of the state are the places to be during the Michigan summer time. And if you like winter sports, you will want to
Megan | Chelsea, MI