Wintry mess, a second batch, then snowflakes? Breaking down upcoming Metro Detroit weather

4Warn Weather – A wintry mess Wednesday, another batch Thursday, and some snowflakes Friday? Brett Collar breaks down what to expect for this week’s Metro Detroit weather forecast.

Wintry mess Wednesday

Regardless of what type of precipitation ends up falling, it appears Wednesday will be a high-impact weather event.

It looks like the storm will come in a number of stages, as listed below:

1. The onset could start in the morning after sunrise, likely as some light snow.
2. As warmer air moves up from the south, the snow changes over to freezing rain/sleet. This will occur from south to north, late morning into the afternoon. This will lead to ice accumulation (more on this below). Exactly how far north this sleet/freezing rain line goes is in question, but we’re leaning towards M-59 being that area.
3. Those in the South Zone could see a changeover to plain old rain in the evening.

The North Zone may get mostly snow or all snow for this event, especially north of I-69.

Snow and ice accumulations are looking likely. Snow accumulation chances are best north of M-59, and with this setup, there will likely be a fairly sharp gradient.

• South of M-59: A couple tenths of an inch to near 1 inch.
• M-59 to I-69: Near 1 inch to a few inches.
• I-69 to the Thumb: 6 or more inches

Ice accumulation looks to be highest through the heart of the area between M-59 and I-94. Regardless of the actual amount, it will have high impacts. But it’s looking like we’ll have around a half-inch of ice on average, with higher amounts in select locations.

Light mix possible Thursday

There’s a chance that a quick batch of light rain/snow mix will arrive Thursday, mainly in the North Zone.

The worst of this looks like it will miss us to our north.

Colder with a few snowflakes Friday

Colder air moves in Friday hehind the main area of precipitation. Highs will only be in the 20s, but it’s going to feel like the teens, with gusty winds around.

With the flow off the lakes, a few snowflakes will be possible, but we’re not really anticipating much, if any, accumulation or impacts.