DETROIT – 2020 will end and 2021 will begin with an active weather pattern, with three storms forecasted over the next six days.
Storm #1 will kick off Sunday night. Rain will rapidly increase in coverage across the area, with warm air ahead of the storm actually boosting temperatures through the evening hours to near 40 degrees by late evening. South winds at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph or above will bring in that warmth.
The warmth will be short lived, though, as a cold front will cross the area between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. At that point, wind will shift to the southwest, the rain will end and temperatures will fall into the low to mid 30s by dawn Monday.
Monday itself will be mostly cloudy, breezy and chilly, with nothing more than a flurry or stray light snow shower. Temperatures will hold nearly steady in the low to mid 30s, with a west wind at 10 to 20 mph making it feel colder.
We may get a few light snow showers Monday night, with lows in the upper teens.
Tuesday will be our best day of the week, and last nice winter day of 2020. Expect plenty of sunshine, light wind and highs approaching 30 degrees. I just wish we would get some snow on the ground for the kids to play in.
On Tuesday night, clouds will increase with some snow breaking out late at night as storm #2 approaches. Lows will be in the mid 20s.
Snowfall forecasted for Wednesday morning probably won’t accumulate much -- generally an inch or less -- before changing to rain as temperatures eventually surge into the low 40s. This storm will be tracking generally eastward across the state, as opposed to coming up from the south followed by storm #3. That’s important, because that means it’ll drag its associated cold front through the area Wednesday night, effectively shutting off the rain initially expected Thursday.
New Year’s Eve, Thursday, now looks cloudy but dry, with highs in the mid to upper 30s. The dry weather will extend into New Year’s Day.
Friday will be a breezy, rainy day as storm #3 comes up from the south. Temperatures will eventually get into the upper 30s.
Total rainfall from storms #2 and #3 will likely exceed an inch but that rain will fall over a three-day period. We should be able to handle this amount of rain, but I’ll continue to monitor carefully over the next few days because the ground is frozen and that rain cannot soak into the soil -- meaning the only thing left for it to do is run off.
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