DETROIT – Everything has played out as expected thus far on our Saturday, with isolated thunderstorms popping up in a few spots late this afternoon. This threat will continue into the evening hours, although many more of us will not see rain than will, with the threat ending by late evening.
Temperatures have risen to near 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius), with the heat index touching 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) in some locations.
The overnight hours will be partly cloudy to mostly clear and oppressively warm and muggy again, with lows only in the low-to-mid 70s (21 to 23 degrees Celsius). South wind at 4 to 7 mph.
Tonight’s sunset is at 8:13 p.m., and Sunday’s sunrise is at 6:56 a.m.
Sunday storm chances
Partly cloudy, hot and humid once again on Sunday, with scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms popping up. Some of those could be strong-to-severe, so be weather-aware Sunday and keep an eye on our app’s real-time radar to stay ahead of the weather. At far as the risk is concerned, I only expect widely scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon, with the main window for storms being between 7-11 p.m. Damaging wind gusts is the primary severe threat, with a chance for large hail in the strongest storms.
Any storm, severe or not, will produce frequent and dangerous lightning, and torrential downpours.
Highs Sunday near 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius), with the afternoon heat index reaching at least the mid 90s (35 degrees Celsius). Although the National Weather Service has not issued a Heat Advisory for Sunday, it’ll be close to that criterion, so stay hydrated and be careful not to overdo it tomorrow if you’ll be outside for an extended period of time.
However, another Air Quality Alert has been issued for Sunday, so it’ll be our second consecutive Ozone Acton Day.
Fortunately, there are simple things you can do that make a significant difference in the amount of low-level ozone that forms today:
- Hold off until evening to fuel your vehicle. Those gas fumes create a lot of ozone on a day like this.
- Likewise, hold off on using any gasoline powered lawn equipment until evening, as their exhaust also creates a lot of ozone.
- Avoid unnecessary errands or put them off until evening. The less we drive our gasoline vehicles, the less exhaust we put into the air.
- Finally, cut back on our electricity use. Turn off lights when leaving a room for a while. Dial the thermostat up a degree or two. Unplug chargers that aren’t being used (they use electricity even when just sitting there plugged in and not charging anything). Hold off on using major electricity appliances (dishwasher, washer, drier) until evening. The less electricity we use during the day, the less energy our coal-burning power plants have to produce.
A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible Sunday night after the main line of storms moves out, but I don’t think we’ll see much. It’ll still be a steamy night, with low near 70 degrees (21 degrees Celsius).
The week ahead
A cold front finally crosses the area late Sunday night or Monday morning, and once it passes by, you’ll notice the drier air moving in. As long as the front’s late night / early morning timing holds, we’ll see partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies on Monday, with highs in the mid 80s (29 to 30 degrees Celsius).
The rest of the week will be dry and comfortable, with highs not far from 80 degrees (27 degrees Celsius), and overnight lows generally ranging from the upper 50s to low 60s (14 to 16 degrees Celsius). At that point, we can all breath a huge sigh of relief -- it’s been quite a stretch of weather we’ve been through.
Tracking the weather
Remember to download the FREE Local4Casters weather app -- it’s easily one of the best in the nation. Just search your app store under WDIV and it’s right there available for both iPhones and Androids! Or click the appropriate link below.