4Warn Weather – Winter weather will return to Metro Detroit on Friday, and both snow and rain could make appearances this weekend.
Snow rest of Friday
Snow is expected to move in from the west later Friday afternoon and into the evening, likely closer to 4 or 5 p.m. It should be out of here by about midnight.
This will add up, but won’t be much -- a half-inch to 1 inch area wide can be expected.
Weekend snow and rain
Models have shifted the track of the low a bit, and as a result, precipitation type and amounts are in question.
The low is now forecasted to move right over the South Zone, whereas on Thursday, it appeared to be down in Ohio. As a result, rain chances are creeping into the forecast.
The arrival of precipitation Saturday evening is still expected to come as snow, with the chances being best in the North Zone.
Through the overnight, the low tracks overhead and brings with it milder temperatures. Parts of the South and Metro zones could very well see rain fall during the overnight. The North Zone will likely stay snow.
By daybreak, Sunday we’re on the backside of the low, which is also the colder side. Here, a few more snowflakes are likely to fly before the storm ends.
With this low moving overhead, there is some room for error as to who sees rain and who sees snow. We’ll likely see rain south and snow north here in Southeast Michigan, but exactly where that line sets up is a bit of a question mark, and something we’ll need to watch closely in the next 24+ hours.
Snow totals with this system will be highest near the Saginaw Bay. For us, expect a few tenths of an inch in parts of the South Zone to near 6 inches in the far North Zone.
It looks like M-59 and north is where we can expect to see the biggest impacts from the snow.
Forecast next week
Long-range models continue to show very inconsistent solutions for next week, with the exception of a few light snow showers on Monday.
Beyond that, one thing is fairly certain for next week: it’ll be colder. We’re expecting highs in the 20s and lows in single digits.