Mild & Damp Becomes Cold & Snowy...

Good Morning!

Clouds and sun mixed in the area right now, and some changes on the way, let's take a deeper dive and see what we have running under the hood:

TEMPERATURE SWINGS:  Temperatures will reach into the upper 30's low 40's across the area, but they don't stay there very long.  Southwest winds under a small upper ridge moderate things just for today, in front of our next weather maker, a surface low that should slide off to the northwest this evening and during the overnight hours.  Have a look at the current temperatures not just here, but around the nation:

US Surface Temperatures

After that, we roll back into the mid or upper 20's until the weekend on some strong northwest winds, then the 30's return to the area with more zonal west to east flow.  The new week could kick off with a few 40's then we get into an unsettled winter pattern again.

MIXED BAG OF PRECIPITATION:  Some changes in the air for the next 24-48 hours regarding our fairly dry weather.  We notice a surface low tracking east-northeast then turning more north, and as that low passes winds swing from southwest to northwest and fire up the lake effect snow machine.  Be glad this isn't the Dakotas or Minnesota, where a Blizzard Warning is in effect!  We do have a Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Calhoun, Eaton, Ingham, Clinton and Jackson counties starting 7 AM tomorrow morning and running through 7 PM tomorrow night.  This is for the precipitation I just mentioned.  We stay warm, and expect primarily rain until the low passes us.  Winds then shift and increase, changing rain to a wintry mix and accumulating snow, creating blowing and drifting issues.  Here's the latest snow forecast map from the National Weather Service...

National Weather Service Snow Forecast Thru 7 PM Tuesday

After that leaves, other than some lingering lake-effect from the NW winds off Lake Michigan, we quiet down until Friday, when another disturbance tracks at us.  Good news with that is as of now, it looks as though instead of this being a solid low top to bottom that would pack a punch, it falls apart and becomes more of a Clipper-like upper disturbance.  This will bring us more precipitation in time for the weekend, though it should be gone by Saturday evening.

LOOKING AHEAD:  Peering into the crystal ball, the GFS forecast model is thinking we get a substantial storm in a week from Tuesday, then keep a chance of snow in the mix right through the rest of week.  Don't go panicking about that now though.  It's WAY too early to say with any certainty what will happen.

Here's a look at the visible satellite image - not much going on right now, it will look quite a bit different by bedtime tonight.

Here's the forecast for Jackson and surrounding areas including Grass Lake and Michigan Center:

Today, becoming mostly cloudy, rain developing late.  Temperatures climbing during the day, high 41, wind SW 10-20 MPH.

Tonight, rain changes over to snow quickly, not as cold, lows roll back to 24, wind SW turning NW 15-25 MPH with gusts to 30 will keep wind chills down near single digits.

Tuesday,  Winter Weather Advisory starts at 7 AM.  Cloudy, colder, blowing and drifting snow possible, total accumulations as much as 3" in some spots, high 27, wind NW 15-25 MPH with gusts to 40 possible.

Tuesday night, snow starts to taper off, light snow may persist, little additional accumulation expected, colder, low 12, wind NW 6-12 MPH.

Wednesday, cloudy to start, some clearing later, seasonably cold, high 26.

Thursday, partly sunny skies, continued chilly, high 27.

Friday, partly to mainly cloudy, chance of a wintry mix or some snow, accumulations should be less than 2".  High 33.

Saturday, still cloudy, a chance of snow or freezing rain can't be ruled out, high 34.

Sunday, more clouds than sun, some spots may see a brief snow shower, a touch milder, high 36.

There's your forecast for the next six days, I do hope that you have a great day!  Blessings.