DETROIT – The warm air in our weekend winter storm held out longer, giving us less freezing rain than expected.
But rainfall totals have arrived as advertised. Both will continue through parts of the area until just before sunrise on Sunday morning.
Timing The Rest
The core of this system will drag right along the Lake Erie shoreline. That will keep most of our Metro and South Zones with just rain this evening. But North and especially West Zone locations can expect additional freezing rain until 1AM.
As the storm pulls away to the northeast, it looks like there may be enough moisture to give us a coating of snow on top of all of this water. It will be 2 inches or less, with the highest totals in the West Zone.
As of 3PM, rainfall totals have already topped 2 inches in the heart of our area. But we can expect another inch of rain before all of the precipitation changes to snow.
Dealing With The Impacts
Many rivers and creeks have reached their peak and will begin falling through the night. Although some will stay above flood stage for much of Sunday.
Winds have been blowing onshore on the east side throughout the day. That will continue through the early part of Sunday morning. By 3-4AM, winds will shift out of the northwest, ending the flood threat for most of us.
Freezing Solid
Temperatures tonight will fall below freezing and stay below for many of us until Monday afternoon. A few Metro and South Zone spots may get above 32 for an hour or so.
Forties return for the first half of next week. But we see another shot of rain by Wednesday. It should be less than a quarter of an inch. More significant rain looks likely by the coming weekend.