Winter’s cold and snow are back.
Lake-effect snow showers dropped a coating in parts of Southeast Michigan on Friday as temperatures tumble.
Friday evening will be mostly cloudy as snow showers taper off. It will also be blustery. Later in the night, temperatures will fall into the teens and wind chill values will dip into the single digits. Winds will be out of the west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph and gusts up to 25 mph.
Saturday
Saturday will be cold and mostly cloudy. A few flurries will be possible. Highs will be in the lower to mid 20s, and winds will be westerly around 15 mph. Gusts will be up to 25 mph. Due to below-average temperatures and breezy conditions, wind chills will be in the single digits for much of the day. The average high is 33 degrees, and the average low is 21 degrees.
Saturday night will be partly to mostly cloudy. Lows will be in the teens with single-digit wind chills.
Cold, but closer to the sun
Earth will be closer to the sun on Saturday morning than any other time of the year. Perihelion of Earth, or the point when the planet is closest to the sun during its orbit, will occur at 8:28 a.m. EST/Detroit. This occurs because Earth’s orbit is an ellipse or oval shape. If Earth is closest to the sun, why is it so cold in the Northern Hemisphere in January? The Northern Hemisphere remains tilted away from the sun during winter. The indirect sunlight means less solar radiation reaches the atmosphere above us.
Sunday
Sunday will also be mostly cloudy and cold. Morning wind chills will be in the single digits with afternoon highs in the mid 20s. Lions tailgaters will want to bundle up. Evening wind chills are expected to improve and rise into the teens. Lows will be in the teens.
Monday
A system will track over the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on Sunday and Monday with wintry weather. While that system is forecast to stay south of Michigan, Michigan will have a chance of lake-effect snow showers on Monday. Otherwise, it will be mostly cloudy. Monday’s highs will be in the mid to upper 20s.
Rest of Week
It will be mostly cloudy and cold through the week. Snow showers will be possible on Wednesday and a better chance of snow exists for Friday.