DETROIT – The holiday weekend has arrived, and as we say with most three-day holiday weekends, it’s rather uncommon to get through all three days with no rain at all.
In this case, much more of the weekend will be dry than wet, but there are a couple of higher risk time periods to be particularly cognizant of, as you’ll read below.
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First, tonight will feature mostly clear skies to start, then some mid and high level clouds will filter in later at night. Lows in the mid 60s (18 degrees Celsius). Light south wind at 2 to 5 mph.
Saturday forecast
Saturday may start with mostly cloudy skies, as those mid / high level clouds will still be around, but they’ll move out and we’ll become partly cloudy. Scattered afternoon thunderstorms are possible, so keep a very close eye on our app’s radar page if you have outside plans, and also follow us on Twitter (@PGLocal4 and @Local4Casters) for personalized updates.
While severe weather is not expected, these storms will be slow movers with frequent lightning and torrential rainfall, so areas under a storm could pick up a bucketful of rain in a short period of time.
Related: Weather science: What exactly is a pop-up storm anyway?
Highs Saturday are now only expected to be in the mid 80s (29 degrees Celsius) due to the extra cloud cover we’ll have for part of the morning. South wind at 4 to 8 mph.
Saturday’s sunrise is at 6:03 a.m., and Saturday’s sunset is at 8:58 p.m. As we mentioned yesterday, the upcoming heat will be a particularly tough stretch for our Muslim friends observing Ramadan.
Your sunrise to sunset fast occurs on our longest days of the year which, combined with the heat and humidity coming our way, means that hydration is going to be critically important. Be sure to drink as much water as possible before and after your fast each day.
Scattered Saturday afternoon storms end early Saturday evening, with a quiet remainder of the night. Warm lows in the mid to upper 60s (19 degrees Celsius).
Sunday forecast
Sunday looks pretty similar to Saturday. We’ll start mostly sunny, then become partly cloudy with scattered afternoon storms developing. Highs in the upper 80s (31 to 32 degrees Celsius), with the humidity making it feel like low 90s (33 degrees Celsius).
Scattered Sunday afternoon storms end early Sunday evening. Becoming mostly clear and muggy, with lows in the upper 60s (20 degrees Celsius).
Memorial Day
Even though a cold front will cross the area on Monday, high pressure aloft should suppress any thunderstorm development. So, at this point we maintain our mostly sunny, dry forecast. It’s going to be a scorcher, though, with highs in the low 90s (33 degrees Celsius), with the humidity making it feel like mid 90s (34 degrees Celsius).
Two big reminders this weekend
Given the very warm temperatures, a lot of people will be out on boats this weekend. Keep in mind that, while water temps in western Lake Erie are in the 60s and 70s (20 to 22 degrees Celsius), Lake St. Clair water temps are only in the upper 50s to mid 60s (15 to 17 degrees Celsius), and southern Lake Huron water temps are only in the low to mid 50s (10 to 12 degrees Celsius), and only in the mid 40s (7 degrees Celsius) in the center of the lake.
Make sure everybody has life-preservers on if you’ll be out on the boat: remember that twenty percent of all drownings from people falling overboard occur within one minute of them falling in due to cold water shock.
Also, let’s not forget the sunscreen. Check out this really cool demonstration about sunscreen we did earlier today – it’s actually pretty neat.
Tropical Trouble
Sub-tropical Storm Alberto developed in the southern Gulf of Mexico today and, as we’ve been telling you all week long, could impact the central Gulf Coast later this weekend into early next week as a tropical storm. Heavy rainfall will spread inland, including across the Florida peninsula, so be prepared for travel delays if you or anybody you know will be traveling down that way.
The rest of next week
Mostly sunny Tuesday and Wednesday, with highs in the mid 80s (29 degrees Celsius).
Thunderstorms chances return Thursday and Friday, with highs remaining in the mid 80s (29 degrees Celsius).