DETROIT – Mother Nature turned on the winter machine way too early this year, and we will stay in this pattern through all of next week. Fortunately, we’ll get off pretty easy this weekend.
Tonight will feature increasing clouds, with lows in the mid 20s (-4 degrees Celsius). South-southwest wind at 5 to 10 mph.
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After a cloudy start to our Saturday, those clouds will move out and leave us mostly sunny for the afternoon. This will be a great opportunity to attack those leaves and get some of that done -- especially since the leaves will be fairly dry. That makes the raking easier, although a south-southwest wind at 10 to 20 mph may blow them around a bit.
Highs Saturday will warm into the low 40s (5 degrees Celsius). Yes, that’s well below average, but the sunshine will compensate for some of that. And those of you heading to the Spartans game in East Lansing will especially appreciate the sunshine for tailgating, although remember that the sun will drop below the stands during the game, and it will cool off quickly after that. Don’t let the tailgate sun lull you into a false sense of security -- dress warmer for the game itself.
Becoming cloudy Saturday night, with lows in the mid 30s (1 degree Celsius).
Cloudy on Sunday, but the daylight hours should be dry -- another opportunity to work on those leaves. Highs in the mid to upper 40s (8 to 9 degrees Celsius).
Rain and snow develop Sunday night, with lows in the upper 20s.
A solid round of snow crosses the area on Monday, so plan on both rush hours being impacted. Here is a series of maps showing you the snow’s progression Monday into Tuesday:
Accumulation by Monday night appears to be a solid two to four inches, and there is rough agreement between the GFS (American) and ECMWF (European) models you’ve heard so much about. But we’re still sixty hours away from that, so keep checking back to our website and free app this weekend for forecast updates.
A northeast-to-north wind blowing off of Lake Huron will also generate lake effect snow bands, which will locally enhance the snow -- you folks in the Thumb know all too well about this. Even into Tuesday, some snow showers from those bands could make it all the way down into parts of the metro area.
After Tuesday, the rest of the week looks quiet and dry.
The other part of the weather story is the cold. If this was January, we wouldn’t even blink over these temps. But this is November, and average highs right now are in the low 50s (11.5 degrees Celsius). Take a look at the expected high temps next week:
We’ll be within striking distance of several temperature records:
- Monday’s lowest high temperature: 30° (-1° Celsius), set in 1926
- Tuesday’s record low: 16° (-9° Celsius), set in 1983
- Tuesday’s lowest high temperature: 31° (-0.5° Celsius), set in 1995
- Wednesday’s record low: 12° (-11° Celsius), set in 1911
So, get the shovels and snow gear ready -- you’ll need it next week!