Metro Detroit weather forecast: Thunder and ice weren't nice!

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What a day.  Thunderstorms…yes, January thunderstorms…rolled through southeast Michigan Wednesday evening.  Then more thunderstorms crossed our southern counties this morning, with freezing rain to the north of that…at one point this morning, the radar looked like a Picasso painting!  This one-two punch from Mother Nature dropped between three-quarters of an inch and one inch of rain, as sump pumps across the area jumped into action.

Precipitation has moved out, and we’ll finally get three days to dry out, which is great news considering that this weekend is the public opening of the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center.  Tonight we’ll see at least partial clearing and much colder air moving in, with lows near 20 degrees (-7 degrees Celsius).  CAUTION:  there’s a lot of wet pavement and standing water out there, so whatever remains (that hasn’t been salted) will freeze into ice.  Be very careful if you’ll be out later this evening or early Friday.  West-northwest wind at 7 to 12 mph.

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Partly cloudy to start our Friday, with clouds gradually increasing through the day.  Highs in the mid 20s (-3 degrees Celsius).  North-northwest wind at 5 to 10 mph.  Friday’s sunrise is at 8:00 AM, and Friday’s sunset is at 5:24 PM.  Notice the increased daylight?  Just a couple of weeks ago, the sun was setting around 5:00 PM!

Mostly cloudy Friday evening, but it’ll be dry if you’re heading to Cobo Center for the big Charity Preview.  Look for evening temperatures averaging around 23 degrees (-5 degrees Celsius), with wind chills in the low to mid teens (-10 degrees Celsius).  Overnight lows by Saturday morning should be in the upper teens (-8 degrees Celsius).

Cloudy on Saturday, with highs in the low 30s (0 degrees Celsius).

Mostly cloudy Saturday night, with lows in the low 20s (-5 degrees Celsius).

Becoming partly cloudy on Sunday, with highs in the mid 30s (1 degree Celsius).

Mostly cloudy Sunday night, with lows in the mid 20s (-3 degrees Celsius).

Things get just a tad tricky on M.L.K. Day Monday, as another storm system makes its move toward the Great Lakes.  Depending upon what time the moisture arrives, we could see light amounts of snow, ice, or rain develop, before an eventual changeover to rain.  I’ve explained many times in the past why it’s impossible to get specific about the precipitation type four days in advance, so I won’t go into it again here today.  But at this point, it’s probably prudent to expect at least a mix to develop at the beginning of things.  Highs should eventually reach the low 40s (5 degrees Celsius) but, like some of the days this week, that high temp could potentially occur in the evening as warmer air surges in. 

Rain is likely Monday night into Tuesday, with highs Tuesday in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees!  (9 to 10 degrees Celsius).