Forecast: Nice Wednesday on tap for Metro Detroit

Wild Thursday expected to follow

DETROIT – Becoming mostly cloudy Tuesday night (but at least dry), with temperatures only dropping a few degrees into the low 30s.

Southwest wind at 10 to 20 mph.

What a nice winter day on Wednesday (and boy do we deserve it). We'll start the day with partly to mostly cloudy skies, then see increasing sunshine through the day. Highs in the upper 30s. West wind at 7 to 13 miles per hour.

Increasing clouds Wednesday night, with lows in the mid 20s.

Thursday starts dry, then rain develops by late morning. However, it may begin with a brief period of freezing rain, depending upon how early it arrives before we warm up, and how dry the air is (the drier the air, the more evaporation that takes place when it begins raining - and that evaporation would cause the temperature to initially drop ... it's the same reason why you feel cold when stepping out of the shower or a pool...the evaporation cools your skin and cools you). The bottom line is, it will be mostly rain, and that will start the fast melting of a deep snowpack.

Storm drains are covered with plowed snow on many streets, so too much rain with significant snow melt could potentially be a big problem -- I'll keep you posted. Temperatures Thursday will slowly rise to around 40 by late afternoon, and still rise into Thursday night.

Becoming increasingly windy as Thursday night progresses, with more rain showers and possibly even a thundershower! Tuesday's computer models suggest that the strong approaching cold front should arrive between 10pm and midnight (this could change, obviously). The front itself should be accompanied by very strong wind gusts, and then a period of strong wind behind the front will settle in and be with us through the night.

I suspect that the National Weather Service will need to consider a Wind Advisory for Thursday night into Friday morning -- we'll see. Temperatures ahead of the front will actually rise into the mid 40s, before crashing below freezing by morning, meaning that icy spots may develop.

Windy with some snow showers on Friday. Highs in the mid to upper 30s.

Partly cloudy with light scattered snow showers on Saturday. Highs in the low 30s.

Partly cloudy Sunday through Tuesday, with highs in the mid 20s on Sunday, and in the low-to-mid 20s on Monday and Tuesday. Overnight lows will drop into the single numbers by Tuesday morning.

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