DETROIT – It was all going so well! The first few days of May over delivered, but the remainder of the first half of the month leaves a bit to be desired. We’re looking at multiple record cold days and the possibility of a few snowflakes before the weekend.
Don’t plant yet
Three of the next seven days will finish below freezing. That streak could be longer if you’re outside the Metro Zone. Ffter hitting 80 degrees on Saturday, you thought it was smooth sailing into summer? Apparently not.
Our warmest highs will show up in the middle of the week, when we’ll finish in the mid-and-upper 50s, which is about 10 degrees below normal. And that’s the good news! Friday’s highs won’t get out of the 40s.
Then, Friday through Sunday nights, expect 20 degree lows in nearly every location in southeast Michigan.
Obviously if your annuals are already in the ground, you’ll need to cover them up at night. Outside of those three sub-freezing nights, there may be more where frost is possible. But even with sufficient cover, the mid- and upper 20s might be too much for the more sensitive plants to handle.
Say it isn’t snow
It won’t require shoveling, but there is a chance that we’ll pick up a few snowflakes toward the end of the week. Thursday night into Friday we’ll track our only chance of precipitation this week. Most of this will be rain, however, with highs eventually reaching the mid 40s.
Toward the end of Sunday night into Monday morning, we’ll get another round of rain. And if that shows up close to those 20-degree starts, we may be talking about even more of the white stuff. But it’s way too early to get excited about timing a system that’s nearly a week out.
Saving best for last
Now that we’ve laid out all the not-so-fun stuff about this forecast, I’ll leave you with the best part. Outside of that late-week system, we’ve got plenty of sunshine in store. But it’s that lack of cloud cover that will bite us overnight, allowing more heat to escape away from the surface than on a cloudier night.
Track the radar: