Metro Detroit weather: Monitoring next winter storm, early look at Thanksgiving week

East coast travel will be a mess

Although temperatures today rose nowhere near our average high of 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius), didn’t that sun look and feel great?  

It’s amazing how much of a difference that sunshine makes for us here in Michigan once we hit the cloudy season.

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Clouds will gradually increase overnight…most in the south and least in the north. Lows in the mid 20s (-5 to -4 degrees Celsius). Northeast wind at 4 to 8 mph.

Thursday forecast

Although our North Zone may start with some sunshine, most of the area should be mostly cloudy at daybreak. Then snow will move across the state line by mid to late morning, and mix with or change to rain during the day as it progresses northward.  

Highs in the upper 30s (3 to 4 degrees Celsius) means that this snow, like our last two, will melt on the roads but possibly accumulate a bit on grass, decks, mailboxes, etc…especially in our North and West Zones. East wind at 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday’s sunrise is at 7:24 a.m., and Thursday’s sunset is at 5:12 p.m.

Although we’ll get a glancing blow from this storm, its impact will be much more significant to our east.

If you or anybody you know has travel plans out east Thursday into Thursday night, make sure they are aware of this. In fact, anybody planning on driving that way on Thursday should consider delaying their departure until Friday. Here are some maps for planning purposes:

Any remaining rain changes back to snow Thursday evening, then ends overnight. Lows near 30 degrees (-1 degree Celsius) means that there could be some icy patches Friday morning.

Friday forecast

Mostly cloudy and windy on Friday, with a few snow showers possible. Highs in the upper 30s (3 to 4 degrees Celsius) will feel colder due to the west wind at 10-20 mph, with gusts between 20 and 30 mph.

Mostly cloudy Friday night, with lows in the low 30s (0 degrees Celsius).

The Weekend

It still appears that there’s a chance for some rain and/or snow showers on Saturday, with highs in the upper 30s (3 to 4 degrees Celsius).

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

Becoming partly cloudy on Sunday, with highs in the mid 30s (2 degrees Celsius).

Thanksgiving Week

Right now, most of Thanksgiving week looks relatively quiet here in the Great Lakes region…that’s great news for travelers.  While we could get some snow showers Monday into Tuesday, this shouldn’t be a big snowstorm.  

Wednesday and Thursday should be dry…that’s great news for America’s Thanksgiving Parade!  This looks like a great year to bring the family downtown to see everything up close and personal.  Naturally, if you’d rather stay at home with a nice cup of hot chocolate, Local 4 is your exclusive home for start to finish coverage.  

Whether your custom is attending in person or watching at home, Local 4 has always been and will continue to be an important part of Metro Detroit’s Thanksgiving tradition!  

Fortunately, it appears that our next precipitation chance (which looks like rain) holds off until Friday…although that’s not great news, of course, for Black Friday shoppers.