SE Michigan weather timeline: We could see a foot or more of snow this week

Snowfall begins Wednesday

DETROIT – Weather conditions are cold Monday morning but decent around Metro Detroit as we awake to temperatures in the single digits to low teens on this last day of January.

Thankfully, there’s not much of a breeze out there this morning which means we won’t be dealing with brutal wind chills this morning, but it is plenty cold and you will want to keep the full winter arsenal going as you head out and about. The fear of frostbite is lessened by the lack of wind this morning although the air temps are cold enough to keep the threat of frostbite and hypothermia possible if you’re spending more than 30 minutes outside and are not properly protected.

You might get away with a lighter set up tomorrow as we expect a temporary boost in temps around here before a big winter storm approaches.

Sunrise is at 7:48 a.m.



Skies will start partly sunny this Monday morning as Metro Detroit will get into more and more sunshine as we get into the late morning and afternoon which will help our high temperatures land somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 degrees which is five degrees warmer than yesterday and a couple of degrees still below average. Temps will be in the mid 20s by lunchtime and the winds will pick up very gently SE 5-10 mph keeping midday wind chills in the upper teens.

We will hit our high temperatures in the mid to late afternoon and that 30 degrees will feel a little closer to 20 degrees later today so it will look a little nicer than it feels today. With a brief warm up on the way, let’s not get complacent with our duties to stay warm and check on those in the neighborhood who might not be doing well in the cold that is still in place.

Sunset is at 5:47 p.m.

Temperatures will dip back into the upper teens briefly this evening under partly cloudy skies and we stay dry all day Monday and most of the day tomorrow. There is a nice push of warmer air just off to our south and that will be working in overnight. Yes it gets pretty darn cool this evening and then that warmer air moves in overnight bringing our temps into the mid to upper 20s as we get up and going tomorrow morning.

The Tuesday warmup

A mild and mostly cloudy start to your Tuesday and we will likely see temps above freezing by 10 or 11 a.m. tomorrow and well into the mid 30s by lunchtime tomorrow. Most of Metro Detroit will experience increasing clouds through the day tomorrow as highs head into the upper 30s to low 40s. This will be the warmest day of the week by far although it does get a bit breezy at times bringing those wind chills down into the 20s to low 30s tomorrow afternoon. We would probably have a shot at seeing 50 degrees tomorrow if we had more sunshine, but we will not likely see much of that sun after the morning hours here in SE Lower Michigan and Southern Ontario.

There is a Gale Warning during the day tomorrow on Lake Huron as winds will be cranking SSE 7-17 gusting 20-30 mph at times. That means waves could be as highs as 10-12 feet over Lake Huron tomorrow. Be extra careful along the shorelines of Lake Huron too as that wind will be bringing big waves to the shores around The Thumb.

Winter Storm Watch Wednesday (the snowfall begins)

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Wednesday and Thursday for all of Metro Detroit. This will likely be upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning as a big winter storm takes aim at Metro Detroit midweek. We will likely see rain showers first and those will begin sometime after the sun sets Tuesday evening. The first wave of this storm will be moving in from the south and could be some steady and heavy rain at time Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

The changeover to snow will happen early Wednesday and we should be into the snow most of the day Wednesday bringing about 6 inches of new snow to the area. Temps will be dropping from the mid 30s Wednesday morning into the upper 20s by Wednesday afternoon and evening. That will keep the storm bringing the snow instead of rain and it will keep stacking up as we head through Thursday.

More snow Thursday

Thursday will be snowy and dangerous with an additional 4-8 inches possible on Thursday making the storm totals for Metro Detroit on Wednesday and Thursday from 8-14 inches of new snow. This would be our biggest winter storm and mess of the year with snow showers finally fading Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Temps Thursday will hover between the upper teens and lower 20s as the North winds pick up and bring us back into the dangerous cold. We will need to watch out for snow, blowing snow, and snow drifts as we travel here and there on Thursday as this will be even more dangerous or problematic than Wednesday.

Snow
Snow

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The calm after the storm Friday

We will see dry weather return to Metro Detroit Friday through the weekend. Friday will be very, very chilly again with a sharp breeze. So, we will wake up to single digits Friday morning with subzero wind chills and mostly cloudy skies. The sun will battle back at times bringing partly cloudy skies Friday afternoon and highs only in the mid to upper teens.

The weekend

Saturday morning may very well be a subzero start with tons of sun and highs again in the mid to upper teens. Sunday will be single digits early with highs in the mid to upper 20s under partly sunny skies.

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