4Warn Weather – Good Tuesday morning!
It’s cloudy and cold all over Metro Detroit today. Temperatures start in the lower and middle 20s with a light breeze creating wind chills in the upper teens for a few hours.
The roads are mostly dry, although a few flakes and flurries will be falling here and there in these trapped clouds. Some light snow to our west is lifting to the north and east over Lake Michigan and northwestern lower Michigan.
We will gradually get into some limited sunshine later today, and you will certainly want to soak any of it up because there isn’t much sunshine filling in the long-range forecast through this holiday weekend and beyond.
Morning clouds and flurries are stuck over Metro Detroit, and it should stay that way until the middle afternoon Tuesday. Look for our skies on this second full day of Hanukkah to go from overcast to partly sunny to partly cloudy through the afternoon.
Tuesday high temperatures will be highly dependent on that sunshine coming later, because gradual sunshine should help our temps hit the middle 30s or slightly warmer. A light breeze will move S at 5-10 mph, keeping wind chills in check.
If those stubborn clouds refuse to break in time, we won’t likely see highs much warmer than freezing this afternoon across our area.
Do yourself a favor: Once you spot that yellow orb, give yourself a sun break to soak up some of that free Vitamin D, which is good for the body, mind and spirit. Maybe we could all use a little help in lifting our spirits around here this time of year.
Today’s sunset is at 5:04 p.m.
Cold, dry Wednesday
Wednesday looks to be another dry one here before a big storm and weather change come to Metro Detroit.
This storm is wreaking havoc in the Mountain West and High Plains on Tuesday, with dangerous wind chills of -50 degrees possible, along with snow. That system moves south and east Wednesday, just out of our area.
We start partly cloudy Wednesday with low-to-middle 20s before the skies begin to fill with clouds through the late morning and afternoon. We may hit highs in the early afternoon in the middle 30s as skies become mostly cloudy to overcast. A light breeze will blow ENE at 5-10 mph and there will be no wet weather.
First comes the rain
Thursday is the beginning of our changing weather.
It looks dry here for the first half of Thursday with highs near 40 degrees, making it the warmest of this holiday week. There is a slight chance for light rain and snow before 1 p.m. as moisture moves up from the Gulf, along with moisture ahead of a strong arctic front to our west.
Thursday afternoon and evening will become wetter and wetter with mostly rain expected for most of our area.
Then comes the snow
That rain will continue overnight into Friday morning, and then it will switch to snow as temps begin to tumble and the winds will be cranking.
We’ll have snow, and blowing snow, on Friday, with a couple of inches of accumulation possible. The storm will make for miserable travel weather on Friday.
The winds may be our biggest problem Friday, as they’ll move SW at 20-30 mph, gusting to 35-55 mph at times -- especially in the afternoon and evening. It’s too soon to tell if the wet weather and the winds will combine to cause power outages, but it will be possible later on Friday.
UPDATED: Rain, snow, winds: Breaking down dangerous pre-Christmas winter storm in SE Michigan
Drying out by Christmas
The winds will keep whipping on Saturday, too. We’ll have a snowy morning before it partially dries out in the afternoon or evening.
We have a decent chance for a white Christmas on Sunday, but we may pay the price to get there.
Remember to download the free 4Warn 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.