Accumulating snow on the road

DETROIT – Good Monday morning!

Today’s sunrise has been at 6:46 in the morning

A cold front – the front edge of a much colder air mass – will approach our area later today. In front of the front, the morning sun will raise temperatures to 60 degrees at noon. Temperatures will begin to drop in the western part of our area during the afternoon, while they will reach a minimum in the mid-60s in the east. This afternoon there will also be light showers in the afternoon in front of the front. A southwest wind of 10 to 20 mph will shift to the west after passing the front.

Monday’s sunset is at 8:20 p.m.

The showers will end after the front pass, so we will be dry Monday night and temperatures will drop to mid 30 on Tuesday morning. Northwest wind will be blowing from 5 to 10 mph.

We start on dry Tuesday, then in the afternoon there will be light rain and possibly some wet snow. The highs will only reach a low until the mid-1940s.

Announcements

Solar radiation (even with clouds) will prevent snow from accumulating during Tuesday daylight hours. However, once we lose radiation and cool Tuesday night temperatures, we will see a change throughout the snow and it can sometimes be moderate to heavy. Note that snow buildup will occur very quickly on the lawn and on high surfaces, such as roofs, patio furniture, and barbecues, but will initially melt into the pavement, as the surface temperature is much higher than frost. Over time, the snow will cool the pavement and a build-up of slab will begin.

There are still some important differences in computer models, but I think I have a reasonable handling of how it will work: the heaviest snow will fall in the southeastern half of the area, with between 3 and 5 inches of snow expected on elevated surfaces. We won’t see so many things on the pavement, but it will still be messy on Tuesday night. In the northwestern part of the area you will see how the amounts of snow fall more rapidly to the northwest, with areas from Sanilac County to Lansing with little snow.

Announcements

Another important part of Tuesday night’s forecast is that low temperatures will drop to close to 30 degrees. As I warned several weeks ago, the heat of early spring may seem pleasant, but it makes the growing season start too early, which can negatively affect subsequent frosts. And that’s what we’ll achieve Tuesday night and Wednesday night.

On Wednesday itself it will start to be cloudy and then to partly cloudy, with highs in the mid-40s. It will be mostly clear on Wednesday night, with lows in the mid-20s.

Mostly sunny to partly cloudy on Thursday, with highs to a minimum in the mid-1950s. It will be mostly clear Thursday night, with lows in the mid-1930s.

Then on Friday, it will be mostly sunny to partly cloudy, with highs in the low 60s.

On Saturday it will start to dry out and then there will be rain during the afternoon. Highs will be close to 60 degrees.

On Sunday it will become partly cloudy, with highs close to 60 degrees.

Announcements

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