Grand Rapids is forecast to get a sunny, mild Sunday before a shift toward showers and cooler temperatures later in the week. Sunday’s high should reach about 74 degrees, with light southeast winds and little chance of rain. Sunday night’s low is expected near 55.
Rain is possible Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday’s forecast then turns mostly sunny, with a high near 75.
Regional climate records offer background for the wetter part of the forecast, but not a prediction for this particular week. Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments reports that precipitation in the heaviest 1% of storms in the U.S. Great Lakes region increased by 36% between 1951–1980 and 1991–2020. That regional, long-term measure does not show how much rain Grand Rapids will receive this week.
A separate historical example underscores why past events should not be treated as a forecast: the National Weather Service Grand Rapids event archive describes heavy rainfall across the western half of the Lower Peninsula on Oct. 22–24, 2017, as the wettest October on record. That event is not evidence of the severity of the showers expected this week.
Cooler conditions arrive later in the week
Wednesday is forecast to be cooler, with a high around 68 and only a slight chance of an early shower. Rain chances increase Thursday and Friday as highs fall from the mid-60s to around 60. Friday night’s low could reach about 38; Saturday is forecast to be partly sunny, with a high near 53 and a small chance of a morning shower.
The cooler outlook comes amid a longer-term regional warming trend, though that trend does not explain this week’s day-to-day forecast. GLISA reports that annual average air temperatures in the U.S. Great Lakes region rose 2.3°F (1.3°C) since 1951; the statistic is regional and annual, not a measure of autumn temperatures specifically in Grand Rapids.
No local watches or warnings are listed for Grand Rapids. Sunday is forecast to be the week’s clearest day for outdoor plans before rain chances and cooler temperatures become more prominent.
