As if this cold spell isn’t bad enough, Consumers Power sent out an alert last night asking their customers to dial down their thermostats to 65° or lower.  There was a fire at one of their gas compressor stations and a shortage of natural gas was very possible.  Wouldn’t you know that this would happen in record cold weather.  Thankfully, we have propane and aren’t affected.

Yesterday was sunny and a very pretty day if you were just looking out a window, but when you stepped outdoors, it was almost unbearable.  The official high was 3°F but my thermometer never read over 0°F.  Today will be a little better, mainly because there won’t be the strong winds that we dealt with yesterday.  What is amazing is that there will be a sudden warmup on Saturday with highs reaching the upper 40s to near 50° for a few days.  What a relief that will be!

Our 10° AM temp is  -8.9°F (-23°C), the humidity is 73% and winds are from the SW at 10 mph.  Our wind chill is -25°F (-32°C) and a wind chill warning remains in effect until this afternoon.  Visibility is 10 miles and the pressure is 30.29 in and rising.  The dew point is -13°F (-25°C) and skies are mostly clear.  Yesterday’s high was 3°F (-16°C) and the overnight low was -11°F (-24°C).  Sunrise was at 7:52 AM and sunset will be at 5:47 PM.

OWOSSO / DURAND FORECAST:

Today:  Partly sunny. Highs near 3°F.  Winds SW 10-15 mph.  Wind chill readings 10-20 below zero.

Tonight:   Becoming cloudy with a 20% chance of snow after midnight.  Low 2°F.  Winds S at 5-10 mph.  Wind chill reading 10-20 below zero.

Friday:  Not as cold.  Mostly cloudy with highs near 14°F.  Winds S at 4-10 mph.  Wind chill readings 5-15 below zero in the morning.

Friday Night:  Mostly cloudy and not as cold.  Low around 11°F.  SW wind 5-10 mph with wind chill readings at 1-9 below zero.