Cold Sunday morning, chilly afternoon

Highs in the mid 30s

DETROIT – Winter begins at 6:03pm ET, Sunday, and it will feel like it. Shoppers can take advantage of two more dry days of shopping before a winter storm makes roads, parking lots and sidewalks slippery closer to Christmas.

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Sunday morning will be mostly cloudy and cold. Families will need their coats going to and from services with temperatures in the middle and upper 20s.

Sunday afternoon will have clouds, and a light wind from the south at 5 to 10 mph will push temperatures to the middle and upper 30s. 

Detroit Lions' fans traveling to Chicago will have similar weather. So they must remember to use their favorite Lions coats, sweatshirts, hats, scarves and gloves as they cheer on the team.

Sunday evening, in Motown, will continue to be dry for people going to stores open later than normal or coming downtown to Campus Martius or ice skating. Temps will be in the low 30s.

Sunday night will be mostly to partly cloudy and cold with lows in the upper 20s.

A mixture of sun and clouds is in the offing Monday, and daytime temps continue to increase. Highs will be just above 40 degrees. It will be the last dry shopping day before Christmas.

Tuesday will have increasing clouds with rain developing and temps near 40. As colder air arrives Christmas Eve, Wednesday, snowflakes will fly and coat the roads and sidewalks. With that, there is a slight chance of a White Christmas, Thursday. Travel will not be to tricky on the holiday as temps stay in the low and middle 30s.

CHRISTMAS TRAVEL WEATHER

Anyone traveling to western Michigan ought to prepare for lake effect snow and snow squalls Christmas Eve while traveling to colder air.

The East Coast, from the Washington, DC-Baltimore area through New York and to New England, will receive a deluge of rain and will be battered by heavy, damaging wind. It would be wise for air travelers to call their airlines within 24 hours of departure to make sure their flights are on time. Drivers need to factor in extra time, too, especially on those multi-hour trips.

STRONG WIND FOR DETROIT

A factor that is almost guaranteed is that wind speeds and wind gusts will rise Christmas Eve, Wednesday, through Christmas Day. Scattered power outages are possible if gusts are high enough, but that is a big "if." Hope that does not happen. Again, the transition to snow Wednesday and early Christmas morning will mean more slippery roads. Kid, don't worry, Santa Claus will have smooth sailing because he and his nine reindeer (including Rudolph) will stay off the ground.

LOCAL 4 WEATHER APPS

Remember to download the FREE Local4Casters Weather app. Just go to your app store and search for "WDIV." Our local radar pops up as soon as you open the app. It is the perfect resource for traveling because you have the power to monitor 4 Live Radar anywhere in the nation.

Also, download our FREE Storm Pins app so you can take and share holiday and weather photos and videos. We know you have keen eye for gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and dazzling Christmas light displays. With Storm Pins, just pin them to a map so the Local4Casters can share them and give you a TV shout-out. Feel free to share pictures and clips with other Storm Pins users, too.

The FREE Local4Casters Weather and Storm Pins apps are the perfect way to make weather more social.

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