DETROIT – Monday's winter storm was yet another in our continuing series of storms this month that brought snow in above freezing temperatures, which mitigated accumulation on our roads. In case you haven’t noticed, however, each storm has moved through with slightly lower temperatures, so the snow accumulation is also edging farther south.
Today, some areas north of I-69 received four to five inches of snow, and we received a report from one of our dedicated viewers, Sue Drob, in Manchester, who reported three inches of wet, heavy snow that stuck to tree limbs and bent some of those limbs all the way to the ground.
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The heart of our metropolitan area received little to no accumulation, as temperatures were two to three degrees warmer but, when you’re talking about temperatures close to freezing, those two to three degrees make a huge difference.
One thing to remember later today is that temperatures dropping below freezing means untreated wet pavement will become icy -- watch for ice, including hard to detect black ice, if you’ll be out this evening, and even when leaving for work Tuesday morning.
Any lingering snow or snow showers late this afternoon should diminish this evening, leaving us cloudy for the remainder of the night. Lows in the mid 20s (-4 degrees Celsius), with west winds at 10 to 20 mph generating wind chills in the mid teens (-9 degrees Celsius).
Mostly cloudy and breezy on Tuesday, with highs in the mid 30s (1 degree Celsius), with a west wind continuing at 10 to 20 mph keeping wind chills in the low to mid 20s (-6 degrees Celsius).
We may see a few snow showers Tuesday night (best chance is in the Thumb), with lows in the mid 20s (-5 degrees Celsius).
Mostly cloudy on Wednesday, with highs in the mid 30s (1 to 2 degrees Celsius).
Mostly cloudy Wednesday night, with lows in the mid 20s (-5 degrees Celsius).
Cloudy on Thursday, with some light snow possible by late afternoon or evening. Highs in the mid 30s (1 to 2 degrees Celsius).
Light snow is possible Thursday night. We’re not expecting any accumulation. Lows near 30 degrees (-1 degree Celsius).
Cloudy on Friday, with highs in the upper 30s (4 degrees Celsius).
Weekend forecast
The next major winter storm approaches this weekend but, this time, we’ll be more solidly on the warm side of the storm. A steady rain will develop on Saturday and continue into Saturday evening (date night looks wet at this point). Highs, however, should reach the low to mid 40s (6 degrees Celsius).
Rain tapers off to scattered showers Saturday night, with lows in the upper 30s (3 to 4 degrees Celsius).
Cloudy with rain showers on Sunday, and highs still mild -- in the mid 40s (6 to 7 degrees Celsius).
Very wet year
Today’s precipitation has unofficially (we’re still waiting for today’s official amount from the National Weather Service) pushed our annual precipitation to 41.13”, which now moves us into seventh place for Detroit’s all-time wettest year. This weekend’s will give us another boost so, with all of December to go, it is looking increasingly likely that we’ll finish the year as one of our top-five wettest years on record.