Our news
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May-July Northern Michigan Search Interest
For May-July, we should see an increase to peak yearly Google search interest for Nothern Michigan places. This peak is forecasted to be lower than recent years, despite forecasts for relatively warm weather. This matches recent downward trends in search interest. The 2025 model changes I implemented in February (and additional changes in March) continue…
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Michigan Outdoor Recreation Search Interest Installment 5
This is the fifth installment of my outdoor recreation search interest project. This project investigates Google search interest from Michigan for 10 different outdoor recreation activities. The data is daily starting in 2021. This project was motivated by my Northern Michigan search interest projects as a companion project and a way to investigate underlying drivers…
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Early Spring
Raindrops on the treetopsWaiting there to fallI know how they’re feelingBut I’m only, yes I’m only, halfway down –Patty Loveless On the weekend before the official first day of spring, I was outdoors listening to the wind swinging the branches of the trees. Springtime is famous for its strong winds, probably due to temperature changes…
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April-June Northern Michigan Search Interest
Search interest remains lower than previous years and is forecasted to remain lower. After making my model changes for 2025, my forecasts continue to be very close to actuals. The previous forecast provided in my document is actually the February forecast instead of the March forecast as I overwrote my March forecast. However, even two…
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Winter Ends
Now the animals sleep as the world holds its breath The woods are as still and silent as death -Chris Ledoux We have quite a fascination with the weather and the passage of seasons, despite the fact that neither present modern humans with much more than a minor inconvenience or a passing treat. In fact,…
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March-May Northern Michigan Search Interest
In Northern Michigan, winter is coming to a close. The first snowmelt occurred last week for the lower and the next will start tomorrow. Northern Michigan received plenty of snow this year and last month was terrific for snowmobiling. Last month, I adopted significant changes to my forecasting methodology which insofar appear to be extremely…
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February-April Northern Michigan Search Interest
Currently, Northern Michigan has entered a normal winter with high temps near or usually below freezing and continued snow accumulation. Virtually all of Northern Michigan has been completely covered in snow since before Christmas. January search interest for the Upper Peninsula was similar to last year despite weather more favorable to winter recreation. It’s fair…
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Understanding Wild Animals
If you’re a wildlife biologist, you probably want to know everything there is to know about species of animals you are interested in. You are also probably not reading this blog post. For the rest of us, we might settle to learn the ‘Cliffs Notes’….at least at first. Lucky for you, you can understand more…
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January-March Northern Michigan Search Interest
December, like all of 2024, had lower search interest than the last few years. This was especially true for the Upper Peninsula. December was warmer than forecasted, but Northern Michigan was snow covered for most of the month. This winter is forecasted to have relatively normal temperatures and normal or higher precipitation. If true, this…
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December-February Northern Michigan Search Interest
Search interest was very low for November in both the Upper and Lower Peninsula. Weather was also unseasonably warm. Weather is forecasted to be above normal again in December and about normal in January and February. This coupled with above normal forecasted precipitation means that January-mid March will likely be snow covered like a normal…