I couldn’t see it on infrared satellite imagery when I got to work at 2:15 a.m.
I suspected it was there when the first daylight developed and I was looking at our skycams.
Confirmation then came when the first visible satellite images arrived: smoke from those massive wildfires out west traveled all the way across the country to lower Michigan! That’s the hazy layer you may have noticed if you went outside or looked out the window today, creating that fuzzy look to the sun.
The smoke will limit highs to the upper 60s (20 degrees Celsius) many of us / mid 60s (18 to 19 degrees Celsius) in the Thumb. North wind at 5 to 10 mph will keep things a little cooler near the Lake Huron shoreline, and may also generate some minor water issues there as well.
Today’s sunrise was at 7:13 a.m., and today’s sunset is at 7:44 p.m.
Clear skies prevail Monday night (aside from any lingering smoke aloft), with lows in the upper 40s (9 degrees Celsius) in the heat island, and mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius) in suburban / rural areas, with calm air.
Tuesday and Wednesday look spectacular, with mostly sunny skies, and highs rising into the low to mid 70s (22 to 23 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, and the upper 70s to near 80 degrees on Wednesday (26 to 27 degrees Celsius). Lows Tuesday night in the low 50s (11 degrees Celsius)…great sleeping weather.
The moisture-starved cold front approaching late Wednesday night / early Thursday morning that I’ve been telling you about the past several days still appears to be a moisture-starved cold front. Consequently, there’s just the small chance for a scattered shower, with lows Wednesday night in the upper 50s (14 to 15 degrees Celsius), and highs Thursday in the low 70s (22 degrees Celsius). Aside from that early morning stray shower chance, most of Thursday’s daytime hours should be dry.
Partly cloudy Thursday night, with lows in the mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius).
Partly cloudy and much cooler on Friday, with highs in the mid 60s (18 degrees Celsius).
Mostly clear Friday night, with lows in the mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius), and it wouldn’t surprise me if a few of our coldest spots in the West Zone and interior Thumb get close to the upper 30s (4 degrees Celsius)!
Weekend Outlook
The upcoming weekend right now looks very nice. Mostly sunny with light wind on Saturday, and highs in the mid 60s (18 degrees Celsius) will feel very pleasant in the abundant sunshine that we’ll have.
Sunday also looks mostly sunny, with highs approaching 70 degrees (21 degrees Celsius).
As I mentioned in yesterday’s weather article, the only caveat to this weekend’s forecast is if a warm front develops and crosses the area, as opposed to just a gradual warming from Saturday to Sunday. A warm front, obviously, would give us a rain chance. However, I’ve poured over the various long range models available to me early this morning, and only one (the GFS) seems to try and develop that front. All of the other models keep us dry. So majority rules…I’m going with a sunny, dry, pleasant upcoming weekend!
Obviously, given that we won’t receive much rain (if any at all) from Wednesday night’s cold front, it appears that we’ll be dry from Monday not only through this weekend, but possibly through Tuesday of next week. If you put grass seed down over the weekend, you’ll be doing some watering this week. Also, this would be a good time to wash that car…