DETROIT – It took two days for that big storm to finally get nudged away from the Great Lakes, and our wind has finally settled down, but not before yesterday’s peak wind gusts exceeded 50 mph in some locations.
Here’s a list of the officially recorded peak gusts on Thursday, as reported to the National Weather Service:
Detroit Metro Airport: 55 MPH at 1:35 p.m.
Monroe: 54 MPH at 1:13 p.m.
Ann Arbor: 53 MPH at 12:03 p.m.
Ypsilanti: 52 MPH At 1:47 p.m.
Detroit City Airport: 52 MPH At 1:32 p.m.
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Adrian: 49 MPH At 1:18 p.m.
Grosse Ile: 46 MPH At 12:14 p.m.
Pontiac: 44 MPH At 1:41 p.m.
Troy: 41 MPH At 12:54 p.m.
Lambertville: 39 MPH At 1:14 p.m.
Flint: 38 MPH At 1:30 p.m.
Howell: 38 MPH At 12:15 p.m.
Owosso: 36 MPH At 12:55 p.m.
Saginaw: 33 MPH At 1:13 p.m.
Harry Browne: 33 MPH At 12:35 p.m.
Bad Axe: 32 MPH At 955 a.m.
Lapeer: 32 MPH At 1:34 p.m.
Port Hope: 31 MPH At 11:06 a.m.
Caro: 31 MPH At 9:15 a.m.
Expect a much quieter day today, with partly to mostly cloudy skies and just a small chance for a brief, very light shower or flurry this afternoon as a “backdoor cold front” swings from northeast to southwest across our corner of the state. Highs in the mid 40s (7° Celsius) in the heart of the metro area, but only in the upper 30s north of I-69, as you’ll get behind the cold front first. Northwest wind at around 10 mph. Today’s sunrise is at 7:39 AM, and today’s sunset is at 7:44 PM.
Partly cloudy tonight, with lows in the mid 20s (-5° Celsius). Northeast wind at 5 to 10 mph.
Partly to mostly cloudy on Saturday, with highs in the upper 30s to near 40° (4° Celsius).
Set your alarm clocks for (or just stay up until) 12:30 AM Sunday morning, because that’s the exact moment when Spring officially arrives! Okay, okay…you won’t see anything, but it is noteworthy for another reason: it’s the earliest occurrence of the Vernal Equinox (start of Spring) since 1896, according to Slooh. In fact, for those time zones west of ours, Spring technically begins on March 19th, which is almost unheard of…at least until the year 2020, when Spring will begin here in our time zone at 11:50 PM on March 19th! All herald the official start of Spring!
Our first day of Spring will feel a lot less “springy” than some of the days we had during the winter. Expect partly cloudy skies on Sunday, with highs again only near 40° (4° Celsius).
Partly cloudy Sunday night, with lows in the mid 20s (-4° Celsius).
Partly cloudy on Monday, with highs near 40° (4° Celsius).
The Tuesday through Thursday period starts getting active again, with rain developing at some point on Tuesday (possibly beginning as some snow before an eventual changeover to rain), and rain chances continuing on Wednesday and Thursday…although the computer models don’t agree on the final outcome. One thing I can say, though, is that we’ll start warming up again, with highs back into the mid 50s (12° Celsius) by Wednesday.
TRAVEL ALERT: today’s computer models are suggesting a nor’easter heading up the east coast late this weekend, which could dump a lot of snow on parts of New England. If you have travel plans out east late Sunday or early Monday, you’d better check with your airline on Saturday…I suspect some will start letting people change their flights without a fee. Also, check in with me on Local 4 News Today Saturday morning between 6:00 and 8:00 AM…I’ll have the very latest then and tell you everything you need to know.