DETROIT – Before getting into the forecast, I want to update you on our winter statistics thus far.
Many of you are asking, so here they are:
We are currently in the second snowiest winter on record with 84.1 inches of snow. First place is the winter of 1880-81 with 93.6 inches.
We are currently in second place for most snow in back-to-back winters, with 131.8 inches. First place are the winters of 2007-08 and 2008-09 with 137.4 inches of total snow.
We are currently in second place for most consecutive days with at least one inch of snow on the ground, with 66 days through today (Thursday). First place is 74 days set in 1978 -- and we should break this record at the end of next week.
I'll keep you updated and don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter at @PaulGrossLocal4.
We broke the record for snowiest start to a winter season (through the end of January), with 55.8 inches.
As far as temperatures are concerned, we finished meteorological winter (remember, that's December, January, and February) as Detroit's 8th coldest winter. We've had 13 days with below zero temperatures, which puts us in 7th place (first place is 21, in 1884-85). Finally, we've had 74 days below freezing, which is 6th place all-time (the record is 86 in 1880-81), and we still have more to go, but will it be enough to break this record? We'll see.
Alright, you're up to speed on all of our records. Let's get into my forecast:
Mostly clear overnight, with lows initially dropping into the mid teens, then rising toward dawn.
Mostly sunny on your Friday, with some increase in cloud cover late in the day. Highs in the upper 30s to near 40…a spectacular day to end the work week! Increasing clouds Friday night, with a few flurries possible as a cold front crosses the area late at night. Lows in the upper 20s.
A chance for some light snow behind the cold front on Saturday (best chance is in the morning through early afternoon). I'm not expecting much accumulation -- likely less than an inch. Highs in the low to mid 30s. Becoming partly cloudy Saturday night -- perhaps even mostly clear for a while. Lows in the mid teens.
DON'T FORGET THAT WE TRANSITION BACK INTO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME SATURDAY NIGHT. SET YOUR CLOCKS *AHEAD* ONE HOUR BEFORE YOU GO TO BED.
And by the way, if you like trivia and want to win a bet with some of your less intelligent friends, the correct spelling is indeed "SAVING" time, not "SAVINGS" time, as a lot of people like to say.
Partly cloudy on Sunday, with highs near 30. Partly to mostly cloudy Sunday night. Lows in the mid 20s.
Mostly cloudy and becoming breezy on Monday, with highs in the low 40s.
I'm still watching a winter storm potentially developing for the Tuesday/Wednesday timeframe -- but the computer models are still in great disagreement in its placement and strength. For example, if you follow the ECMWF model, the entire snow shield just misses us to the south, and we get nothing. Meanwhile, the CMC model actually gives us rain changing to snow (I think this is the least likely scenario right now). The GFS drops a few inches of snow on the southern half of the area. And, finally, the UKMET model gives us a flat out snow storm.
See? With this amount of disagreement, I cannot possibly give you even a hint of what this storm will do. But I do want you to be aware of it without any hype.
By the way, more Arctic air plows across the Great Lakes on the backside of this storm, giving us highs once again in the 20s and lows in the teens -- for a couple of days.
Weather links:
· Radar