4Warn Weather – More rain and snow showers are on the way to Metro Detroit for the end of the weekend and we’re taking a look at the aftermath of Friday night’s snowstorm.
New daily snowfall record
Detroit Metro Airport/Romulus has set a new daily snowfall record for March 3. The new record is 6.2″ of snow, the old record was 6.0″ set back in 1875, so we broke a very old record!
Winter storm recap
Widespread snow totals of 8 to 11 inches occurred along a corridor from Jackson to Howell and Ann Arbor, the northern Metro Detroit suburbs, Lapeer, and parts of St. Clair and Sanilac Counties.
To the south, milder air allowed for some rain to mix in at times across Monroe, southern Wayne, and parts of Lenawee Counties which reduced snowfall totals in those locations.
Daily snowfall records for March 3 were broken/tied at all three climate sites: Detroit - 6.2″ (previous: 6.0″ from 1875).
Despite air temperatures hovering near or slightly above freezing in many areas, the heavy snowfall rates allowed for rapid accumulations during rush hour and into the evening. Snowfall rates became so intense (2-3 inches per hour in some locations) that numerous bouts of thundersnow were observed in the evening. The heavy, wet snow exhibited snow-to-liquid ratios below 10:1 and piled up quickly on trees and power lines that were already stressed from recent winter storms on Feb. 22 and Feb. 27. This, combined with gusty winds, resulted in over 200,000 customers losing power across the area.
After the major winter storm from Friday into Saturday morning moved through the region dropping quite a bit of snow across the region, we have seen sunshine and warmer temperatures throughout the day, allowing the power restoration operations to continue today, and the thaw to continue as well with a lot of melting happen.
We are looking ahead to some light wintry weather overnight tonight.
Expect the clouds to increase as we head throughout the evening before an upper-level disturbance moves into the region overnight tonight.
With some “lift” to go with it, we are looking at the chance of a light rain/snow shower wintry mix for some of us tonight. This will bring little or no accumulation to add to what is already on the ground. Overnight low temperatures drop just below freezing into the lower 30s heading into Sunday morning.
High pressure will quickly build into the forecast as we head into the end of the weekend on Sunday, so we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds in the forecast throughout the day. The melting will continue, and this will allow the power restoration efforts to continue. High temperatures will go back into the lower 40s heading into Sunday afternoon.
A stronger low-pressure system will work into the region. This will also bring to bring some colder air into the region to go with it. While the models through earlier today have kept this system as rainfall, it looks like with some of the colder air in place, we will bring the chance of rain and snow showers into the region. Any wintry precipitation accumulation should be confined to the thumb area of the state, and that would be light. High temperatures make it into the middle and upper 40s by the afternoon.
Drier weather moves back into the region as we work into the middle of the week, with more cloud cover working into the region by the time we get to Thursday. High temperatures remain in the 30s through Thursday.
Our next low-pressure system moves into the region for the end of the week and into the beginning of next weekend. Expect the clouds to increase, and rain/snow showers to move into the region for Friday afternoon and evening. High temperatures remain in the lower 30s for Friday.
We will keep the chance of rain and snow showers in the forecast as we work into the first part of the weekend. Temperatures are a few degrees warmer, heading into the mid & upper 30s by Saturday afternoon.
Short term forecast
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, a chance of a light/rain-snow mix. Low: 31. Winds: Southwest 5-10 MPH
SUNDAY: Partly cloudy skies. High: 42. Winds: Northwest 5-10 MPH
SUNDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies. Low: 32. Winds: East 5-15 MPH with gusts as high as 20 MPH
MONDAY: Mostly cloudy skies, a chance of rain/snow showers. Breezy winds anticipated. High: 48. Winds: East 10-20 MPH with gusts as high as 25 MPH.