DETROIT – As expected, clear skies, dry air, a cold air mass and light wind have allowed temperatures to drop to near or below freezing in parts of the area, so some of us are waking up to a layer of frost on the grass and windshield if your car is parked outside.
On the bright side, those with allergies are anxiously awaiting that killing freeze, as that ends the allergy season!
We’ll start our Finally Friday with sunshine, then cumulus clouds will start popping up around 7,000 feet above the surface and, by this afternoon, we’ll be no better than partly cloudy. In fact, some of those cumulus clouds – especially north of M-59 / Highland Road will grow enough vertically that they will produce scattered rain showers by mid-to-late afternoon and this evening, and possibly even some graupel (snow pellets), which would be the first official wintry precipitation of the season.
Highs in the low to mid 50s (11 to 12 degrees Celsius) will be accompanied by a southwest wind at 10 to 15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph -- this will add some chill to the air today.
Today’s sunrise is at 7:48 a.m., and today’s sunset is at 6:49 p.m.
Scattered showers will end this evening, and partly cloudy skies will eventually become mostly clear. How soon those clear skies develop will dictate if temps will get back close to freezing and give us another chance at frost. Right now, I’m targeting low to mid 30s (0 to 2 degrees Celsius), with our Urban Heat Island being warmest, as usual, and rural areas being coldest.
Saturday will start mostly sunny, and I think we’ll keep some sunshine at least through late morning before skies become mostly cloudy for the afternoon. Highs in the mid-to-upper 50s (14 degrees Celsius).
Mostly cloudy Saturday night with a small shower chance. Not as cold, with lows in the mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius).
The Sunday cold front continues to slow down, and I now think we’ll start the day mostly dry, with showers developing either late-morning or in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees (15 degrees Celsius).