Metro Detroit weather: Stormy forecast with severe chances

Tuesday storms could produce torrential downpours, strong winds

DETROIT – Good Tuesday afternoon!

Our thunderstorm potential will increase through the afternoon.

Any storm this afternoon will produce torrential downpours, and a few of those downpours could generate strong wind gusts. Of course, never underestimate the dangerous lightning that accompanies thunderstorms.

As expected, the Storm Prediction Center has expanded the severe weather risk area westward almost to Lansing, so all of southeast Michigan is at risk for those strong wind gusts.

You’ll notice the heat and humidity roaring back, as highs rebound from yesterday’s low to mid 70s into the low 80s. A south wind will move at 10 to 15 mph.

Tuesday’s sunset is at 9:09 p.m.

We will still have some storms around Tuesday evening, but those will wane after sunset, and the second half of the night should be dry. Lows will be in the mid-to-upper 60s. A southwest wind will blow at 5 to 10 mph.

Stormy week ahead

At this point, I think Wednesday will remain dry. Technically, there is an ever-so-slight chance for a late afternoon or early evening pop-up thunderstorm, but I’m not expecting anything at this point. Highs will be in the mid 80s.

Wednesday night will be partly cloudy with lows near 70 degrees as another steamy air mass surges back in.

Thursday into Thursday night looks like it will be pretty stormy.

At this point, it’s possible that we won’t have any rain during the first half of Thursday, but storms will increase -- particularly during the afternoon ahead of a slow-moving cold front that will be orientated from northeast to southwest. Those storms will be traveling northeastward ahead of the front, with multiple batches possible. This creates the potential for another heavy rain/flood situation -- some of us could see one-to-two inches of rain. There’s also the potential for some strong wind gusts with these storms.

Humid highs Thursday will be in the upper 80s, and muggy lows Thursday night will be in the low 70s.

We will start Friday with more showers and storms around (I told you it was a slow-moving front), but it will hopefully clear the area at some point in the afternoon. Highs Friday will be near 80 degrees.

A (hopefully) dry weekend

One computer model shows a wave of low pressure developing along the aforementioned cold front, meaning we could see some rain in southeast Michigan on Saturday. However, no other model is showing this -- so it’s possible we will remain partly cloudy and dry on Saturday. With three models against one, I am sticking with a dry Saturday forecast, for now.

As long as Saturday stays dry, we’ll see highs in the low 80s. We’ll keep an eye on this, so stay tuned.

Sunday looks great, with mostly sunny skies expected and highs in the mid 80s.

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