Metro Detroit weather forecast: Spring hasn't sprung, yet

A series of upper level disturbances moving south-southeast across Michigan are generating batches of snow showers, and this threat will continue into Tuesday.  Those disturbances will additionally have another undesirable impact on our weather:  they will reinforce the upper level trough of low pressure (big dip in the jet stream) over us, and delay the late-week warm-up we talked about last week.  Here’s how things will play out…

Afternoon snow showers will gradually diminish this evening and, by midnight, most of them should be gone.  Lows in the mid 20s (-4 degrees Celsius).  Northwest wind at 4 to 8 mph.

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Most of Tuesday morning should be dry…there may be a few scattered snow showers around, but the better chance for scattered snow showers is in the afternoon.  Highs in the mid 30s (2 degrees Celsius).  Northwest wind at 10 to 15 mph will add some bite to the late winter chill.  Tuesday, of course, is 3/13, or “313 Day” in Detroit, as we celebrate all things Detroit since the date is the same as the City’s area code!

Snow showers diminish Tuesday evening, with lows in the low 20s (-6 to -5 degrees Celsius).  

Tuesday’s sunrise is at 7:49 a.m., and Tuesday’s sunset is at 7:38 p.m.

New England Storm

If you are traveling to the New England area Tuesday into Wednesday, you have yet another nor’easter to deal with, and there will likely be delays at some of the main airports, especially Boston.  Here are some maps to help you plan:

Partly cloudy on Wednesday, with highs in the upper 30s (4 degrees Celsius).  Wednesday is “Pi Day” across the country (or “Tau Beta Pi Day” for those of us who are members of the National Engineering Honor Society).  You see, the date is 3/14, and the number, Pi, is an endless number that starts with 3.14.  In fact, if you want to get really crazy about this, you can celebrate at 1:59 p.m., because it will be 3/14, 1:59…and the first five numbers in Pi are 3.14159.  By the way, if you’re wondering how a meteorologist was inducted into the National Engineering Honor Society, at U of M the meteorology program is in the College of Engineering, and my grades were good enough to be selected!  

Partly cloudy Wednesday night, with lows in the mid 20s (-4 degrees Celsius).

Yet another upper level disturbance crosses the state on Thursday.  While the air above us should be too dry to support precipitation, there could be some cloud cover…although it’s not clear right now just how much.  But the important thing right now is that the day looks dry, with highs near 40 degrees (5 degrees Celsius).

Mostly sunny on Friday, with highs near 40 degrees (4 to 5 degrees Celsius).  It looks like a great day (and weekend) for those travelling to Detroit for the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament!

The much-desired warming trend appears to finally take hold this coming weekend, with highs in the mid 40s (8 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, and in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees (9 to 10 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.  Of course, this Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day, so enjoy the nice day and PLEASE be responsible and don’t drive if you’ll be drinking.  At this point, the weekend appears dry, with rain chances returning next Monday into Tuesday.  

Big news:  Spring officially begins at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon!  Now, if Mother Nature would only cooperate…