Spectacular weather for one more day in Metro Detroit

Looking ahead to Mother's Day weekend

Paul Gross takes a look at the upcoming Metro Detroit weather forecast for May 8, 2018. (WDIV)

DETROIT – Tuesday was another beautiful day in Metro Detroit, with abundant sunshine and temperatures in the mid-70s (24 degrees Celsius). It was cooler right near the big lakes, as expected.

Wednesday looks even better, but with a caveat, as you’ll read below.

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Tuesday night will remain mostly clear, but not as cold, with lows in the low 50s (11 degrees Celsius), and calm air.

Mostly sunny to start our Wednesday, then clouds start increasing from west to east after 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. While there’s a very small chance for an isolated early evening shower, most of us should be okay for our after-dinner outdoor plans, and high school or little league games.

This is yet another good reminder to download the free Local4Casters weather app, as so many people here in Metro Detroit have already done, and monitor the customizable radar page.

Highs Wednesday should reach the upper 70s (26 degrees Celsius), with the potential for a couple of spots on the eastside to possibly come close to 80 degrees (27 degrees Celsius) if you hold onto your sunshine long enough. It’ll become breezy, with a south wind at 10 to 20 mph.

Wednesday’s sunrise is at 6:19 a.m., and Wednesday’s sunset is at 8:41 p.m.

Showers and scattered thunderstorms increase in coverage Wednesday night, with very mild lows near 60 degrees (15 to 16 degrees Celsius).

Any morning showers on Thursday will end, and some sunshine should develop during the afternoon. Highs in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius).

Mostly clear Thursday night, with lows in the mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius).

Skies quickly become cloudy on Friday, with showers developing. Highs only in the low 60s (16 to 17 degrees Celsius).

Showers are likely Friday night, with lows in the low 50s (11 degrees Celsius).

Mother’s Day weekend

Okay guys, here’s your reminder to plan something special for the mothers in your life, and they’ve truly earned this special day. Our little reminder just saved you from the doghouse -- you can thank us later.

Saturday’s weather, as we discussed yesterday, is highly dependent upon how far north an approaching warm front goes before stopping. Yesterday’s computer models suggested that the front would make it to I-69.

Today’s models suggest that it’ll probably be a little farther south than that. But we’re still four days out, so there’s time to fine tune this aspect of the forecast. The bottom line is that, if you’re south of the front, rain will end, some hazy sun will develop, and temperatures will shoot up into the upper 70s (26 degrees Celsius).

If you’re north of the front, you’ll have a very different day, as rain showers will continue and it’ll be much cooler, with highs only in the low to mid 60s (17 degrees Celsius). Again, how far north and south this weather goes is directly tied to where that front ends up.  Stay tuned.

The front should start sagging south Saturday night, with rain showers and possibly even some thunderstorms possible. Lows in the low 50s (11 degrees Celsius).

Now here’s the best news: yesterday’s models were holding onto the Mother’s Day rain for most of the day. Today’s models are actually coming into agreement with ending that early in the morning, and sunshine developing by afternoon. What a difference that makes. If this timing pans out, we’ll be able to barbecue and do all sorts of outdoor things to celebrate with Mom. Again, stay tuned. We’ll keep you updated.

Into next week

Monday and Tuesday look spectacular, with sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius) on Monday, and possibly approaching 80 degrees (27 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday.

It now appears that there’s a chance of showers on Wednesday, but not an all-day rain -- parts of the day will hopefully be dry. Highs in the mid 70s (25 degrees Celsius).

Thursday looks dry, and continued mild, with highs in the mid 70s (24 degrees Celsius).

Can I plant?

Everybody is starting to ask if they can plant their annuals.  The answer to this question involves when our last freeze will occur.  Let’s first look at this statistically:

Spring freeze (WDIV)

Our long-term statistical average last freeze here in Metro Detroit is April 26, and we’re obviously past that date.  However, that’s just an average date, and we’ve had a freeze as late as May 29 (that occurred in 1966 with a record low of 32 degrees / 0 degrees Celsius).

Taking a look at the super-long range computer models (called Ensembles), we don’t see any weather patterns developing through May 22 that would even come close to giving us a freeze. So that’s within one week of our all-time record latest freeze. Although the models don’t take us past May 22, it would be highly unlikely to get a frost or freeze between then and the 29th.

In fact, looking at our record lows from May 22 through the 29th, no record lows (except for the 29th, as mentioned above) get to freezing. Granted, it gets close to freezing on a few of those days but, close is only good in horseshoes, hand grenades and atom bombs, as the old saying goes: the temperature needs to get to or below 32 degrees to create a freeze on plants. 

The bottom line is that it appears safe to plant our annuals now.  The Local4Casters always say wait until Memorial Day every year, and that’s always good advice. The way things look right now, it appears okay to start planting but, if it’s not mandatory, you may wait a couple of weeks just to be absolutely sure.