DETROIT – Today’s weather scenario is playing out exactly as expected with an early morning band of light rain crossing the area ahead of a potent cold front.
Remember that a cold front is the front edge of a colder air mass and in this case, it’s a much colder air mass.
As soon as the front crosses your location, rain will end, skies will temporarily clear, wind will shift to the west and increase, and temperatures will begin to fall from the upper 40s to near 50 degrees (9 to 10 degrees Celsius) eventually into the mid 30s (1 to 2 degrees Celsius) by mid-afternoon.
The strong south to southwest wind ahead of the front is causing some lakeshore flooding issues on the north shores of Lakes Erie and St. Clair, so the Lakeshore Flood Advisory remains in effect there until 10 a.m., after the wind shifts to the west and no longer poses a water threat to those shorelines.
However, the wind speed and gustiness will increase this afternoon, with gusts to 40 or 45 mph possible, so the National Weather Service is posting a Wind Advisory that will go into effect at noon and continue until 10 p.m. If you have any delicate Halloween decorations that will be easily damaged by this afternoon’s strong wind gusts, I suggest bringing them in as soon as possible.
Finally, the cold air mass and strong wind crossing the relatively warmer waters of the Great Lakes will trigger lake effect snow bands, some of which may make it into our area. If the wind remains westerly through the afternoon, the dominant band would come off the thick southern part of Lake Michigan and trigger what we meteorologists call an I-94 / I-96 snow band. If the winds veer more to the northwest by late afternoon, as some models suggest, then Lake Superior-Lake Michigan snow bands will curl southeastward into the Thumb.
These bands, if they materialize, will be quite noticeable. Pavement temperatures are well above freezing, so don’t worry about driving conditions (except for the wind impact on high profile vehicles). However, there could be a dusting of accumulation on grassy areas in some spots.
The snow winds down Sunday night, with but it will remain windy, with a northwest wind at 15 to 25 mph, and gusts by late evening “settling down” into the 35 mph range.
Partly cloudy, continued windy, and cold on Monday, with highs only in the mid to upper 40s (8 to 9 degrees Celsius). West to possibly southwest wind at 15 to 25 mph, with gusts to 35 mph.
After Monday, we get into a fantastic weather pattern, with mostly sunny or partly cloudy skies all the way through next Monday! Highs Tuesday will warm into the mid 50s (12 degrees Celsius) on Election Day…so the weather is no excuse: Get to the polls and vote.
Highs Wednesday through next Monday will be in the low-to-mid 60s (16 to 18 degrees Celsius)!
Final Reminder:
Daylight Saving Time ended at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. So if you didn’t do it before bed, set the time on anything that didn’t automatically update back one hour. This also shifts our sunrise and sunset times today to 7:07 a.m. and 5:26 p.m.
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