4Warn Weather – Good Thursday morning!
The sky conditions are much better as we get going this morning. Skies are mostly cloudy, and we cannot rule out a few flurries or some light drizzle, mainly in our western suburbs and counties. But, it is mostly dry for most.
We also aren’t having any issues with fog this morning.
Temperatures start by falling through the 30s, where they will stay. Eventually, we will settle in the lower to middle 30s with a decent breeze keeping wind chills in the upper 20s -- so, grab the thicker coat, hat, and gloves today.
We are done with that mild air that brought our highs to 60 degrees yesterday in Detroit, which was only one degree from a record high for January 4th. We are not going into a deep freeze, but it will be noticeably cooler all through this coming weekend.
Today’s sunrise is at 8:02 a.m.
Although we don’t have much moisture to deal with this morning, that will change later this afternoon with either a wintry mix or straight up snow showers. This is the last bit of energy left from a storm that has caused our wet weather the last couple of days.
There are chunks of moisture moving in from the west and southwest, and our Exact Track 4D Radar shows mostly snow early on. We will go from middle 30s back into the upper 30s this afternoon, which means we could see a mix of rain and snow showers moving through Metro Detroit this afternoon.
Most of our computer model guidance suggests the scattered snow showers are capable of laying down a coating of snow later today, and that could bring more difficult traveling weather through our late afternoon and evening commute. We may not see snow squalls, but expect slippery streets and reduced visibility from these snow showers becoming more numerous in the mid- and late afternoon and evening hours.
The winds moving SW at 5-15 mph will steer many of these snow bands through Washtenaw, Livingston, Wayne and Oakland counties, but not exclusively.
Tonight’s sunset is at 5:15 p.m.
Snow again Friday
Friday will be very similar to our Thursday with more 30s, pesky breezes and snowflakes and flurries.
We will wake up to temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s first thing Friday morning before highs rebound back into the middle 30s. Wind chills will remain in the 20s to low 30s most of the day Friday.
The winds moving W at 5-15 mph will bring a few lake effect snow bands and flakes our way here and there. It’s not a strong enough wind to create a dangerous fetch over Lake Michigan, so instead we’ll see scattered and light snow showers and flurries.
Those snow bands will be more problematic closer to Lake Michigan, which is a warning for anyone traveling west and north in Michigan on Friday. It won’t be a whiteout, but a few snow squalls cannot be ruled out.
Mostly dry weekend (probably)
We will keep a close eye on this coming weekend forecast, because there is one computer model bringing a wintry mix or snow chance during the afternoon on Sunday. Most computer model data keeps the rain and snow well south of Metro Detroit Saturday and Sunday, but it will be a close call at the end of our weekend.
Temps will range from the middle 20s to the middle 30s both weekend days here in SE Lower Michigan and Southern Ontario.
Some snow may move through late Sunday into Monday morning, though it doesn’t look too impressive in terms of snow chances or snow totals. And the storm may dodge us all together.
Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted.
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