DETROIT – I told you all last week that today would bring the core of the Arctic blast, and we sure felt it, although the sunshine sure helped take a bit of the sting out of it. Now get ready for some gradual warming as we move through this big holiday week.
Monday night will feature mostly clear skies, and very dry air overhead combined with the snowpack and slackening wind will allow lows to easily drop into the low single numbers (minus 16 degrees Celsius) by late evening. Slightly higher humidity air should move in later Monday night, which may actually raise our temps a bit toward dawn.
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Regardless, wind chills at the Tuesday morning bus stop should be between zero and 10 degrees below zero (minus 18 to minus 23 degrees Celsius). South winds will blow at 5 to 10 mph. You can see specific overnight lows across our area in the 4ZONE Forecast I prepared Monday afternoon.
Tuesday will begin with some sunshine, and then we’ll see some midday clouds as a trough (basically, a weak line of low pressure) crosses the area. Clouds will depart behind it, so we may actually finish the afternoon with some sunshine, too. More importantly is that it’ll become windy by afternoon, with a south-southwest wind at 20 to 25 mph making that high in the upper 20s (minus 2 degrees Celsius) feel more like upper teens (minus 8 degrees Celsius).
Tuesday’s sunrise is at 7:58 a.m., and Tuesday’s sunset is at 5:04 p.m.
It will be partly cloudy Tuesday night, with lows in the upper teens (minus 7 degrees Celsius).
Partly cloudy to mostly cloudy and warmer on Wednesday, with highs in the low 30s (zero degrees Celsius). It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about 30s.
Light snow showers are possible Wednesday night, with lows in the mid-20s (minus 4 degrees Celsius).
Any lingering light snow showers Thursday morning should end, and perhaps we’ll see a few peeks of sun develop during the afternoon. Highs again in the low 30s (zero degrees Celsius).
It will become mostly clear Thursday night, with lows in the mid-20s (minus 4 degrees Celsius).
Friday will be mostly sunny -- an awesome day to end the week -- with highs in the low 30s (zero degrees Celsius).
It will be partly cloudy Friday night, with lows in the mid 20s (minus 4 degrees Celsius).
Saturday will be partly cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s (1 degree Celsius). One model tries to send a weak system this way and give us a bit of precipitation, but that’s not supported by the other models at this point. Obviously, I’ll keep a close eye on this, as Saturday will be a big travel day.
Christmas Eve is also the start of Hanukkah this year. The two holidays don’t often coincide exactly like this. I guess that means we need to wash down our potato latkes with egg nog? Right now, it looks dry, with normal wintertime evening temperatures in the upper 20s (minus 2 degrees Celsius).
Christmas Day, also the first day of Hanukkah, will be much warmer, but that warmth also means that we may get some rain as a storm system winds up to our west. While that’s not exactly conducive to playing in the snow (take the kids bowling instead), on the bright side, it does mean that we shouldn’t have any snow or ice on the roads to deal with. Highs should reach 40 degrees (minus 4 degrees Celsius).
Monday is the start of Kwanzaa and also the day you head to the mall and take back all that stuff you got that doesn’t fit. Or perhaps buy next year’s lights, ornaments, Christmas cards and wrapping paper at half off. Or spend all of those gift cards and take advantage of the post-Christmas sales. Right now, it still appears relatively mild, although we still may have some rain showers to deal with. Highs will again be near 40 degrees (3 degrees Celsius), although it’ll become rather windy.