Metro Detroit weather: Nice weekend ahead, scattered rain showers forecasted

DETROIT – As promised, it’s been a wintry Friday in the Motor City.  

The day started with some rather robust snow showers, although impact was minimal due to mostly above freezing temperatures. Then, scattered rain, sleet and snow showers developed this afternoon.  Adding insult to injury was temperatures that ranged from mid 30s (2 degrees Celsius) in the Thumb to low-to-mid 40s (6 degrees Celsius) farther south, with a brisk wind that put some serious bite in the air.

Recommended Videos



Precipitation is steadily diminishing across the area, and skies will clear overnight.  The northwest wind will also lighten up to 5-10 mph by dawn.

Saturday will be a spectacular day, with nothing but sunshiny blue skies! Temperatures will recover into the mid 40s (7 to 8 degrees Celsius) during the afternoon, and that’ll feel pretty good in that late-March sun angle. Wind should back to the west, at 5-10 mph.

Saturday’s sunrise is at 7:32 a.m., and Saturday’s sunset is at 7:49 p.m.

Clear skies rule our Saturday evening (i.e., date night) plans, with the wind becoming even lighter. Temperatures overnight will fall to near 30 degrees (-1 degree Celsius) by dawn Sunday.

Sunday will start partly cloudy, and we’ll probably keep at least partial sunshine through the morning hours before clouds start increasing.  Some computer models try to bring in a scattered late-afternoon shower south of I-94, but other models keep us dry.  We’ll just have to keep an eye on this.

Regardless, it’ll be milder than Saturday, with highs a little above 50 degrees (10 to 11 degrees Celsius).

Scattered rain showers will develop Sunday night ahead of a cold front moving downstate.  However, there will also be a potent upper level disturbance moving eastward from Wyoming to northern Missouri this weekend, before diving southeast.

The big question is: will that disturbance push moisture north of the state line and, if it does, will that moisture move in ahead of or behind the cold front?

Let’s look at some ramifications to that question with images below from our in-house 12km RPM model:

As you can see, the RPM is bringing that moisture in, and changing the rain to a stripe of snow just before the Monday morning rush hour.

Keep in mind that this is just one model.  Some other models bring in significantly less moisture and, hence, keep things much drier Sunday night. And even if the RPM does verify, there shouldn’t be much accumulation -- it’s just that the timing is bad.  We’ll get a better handle on this over the weekend, but wanted you to at least be aware of the potential today.

Whatever precipitation (if any) we have Monday morning should end, with some sunshine developing for the afternoon.  It’ll be a little breezy, with temperatures not rising above the upper 30s (4 degrees Celsius).

Mostly clear Monday night, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s (-5 degrees Celsius).

Look for a ton of sun Tuesday, with highs in the low 40s (5 degrees Celsius).

Mostly sunny and warmer on Wednesday, with highs in the upper 40s (9 degrees Celsius).

Scattered showers are possible on Thursday, but it will become breezy and warmer, with temperatures approaching – be ready for this – 60 degrees (15 degrees Celsius)!  We may not hit 60, but we’ll be within shouting distance!

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible again on Friday, with highs again approaching 60 degrees (15 degrees Celsius).