Colder & Sharply Cooler Ahead...

Good Morning!

The clouds are on the move into Michigan at this hour, with temperatures in the 50's.  I expect us to get a bit warmer before it's all said and done, then some rain pushes into the area for the next couple of days, with cooler temperatures behind that, let's take a deeper dive and see what's going on:

TEMPERATURES:  We should see temperatures in the lower 60's today, these will start to fall with increasing clouds during the afternoon hours.  We have temperatures in the 30's and 40's off to the north and west of us, and those conditions will filter this way over the next 24 hours as a trough shovels in here from Canada, bringing colder air along with it.  Have a look at the surface temperature map:

Temperatures should depart the 50's by 11 PM in fact, and you can expect highs 15-20 degrees cooler for the next day or two.  We will start getting back into the more spring-like weather in time for the weekend though, and carry that right into next week.

RAIN:  With clouds building in, expect some showers later on.  I would be surprised to NOT see it raining or having rained in many areas by midnight tonight.  We'll call it showers this evening with possibly a thunderstorm or two in some spots, then just scattered to numerous showers tomorrow, and as much as I don't want to, there may be some light snow mixed in with the rain as our low temperatures dip near freezing.  Have a look at the latest rainfall map from the Weather Prediction Center...

Weather Prediction Center 7 Day Precipitation Forecast

The problem now, is all this rain will likely re-aggravate the flooding issues that are such a concern, especially in West Michigan. It surely looks like Mother Nature is evening things up after the drought from last year!  Rain moves out of here tomorrow evening and just leaves us thinning clouds for the overnight into Thursday.

SEVERE WEATHER:  While we do mention the risk of thunderstorms today, those should only be the garden variety storm.  Nothing severe anticipated for the next three days by the Storm Prediction Center.  That being said, there is the chance that any storm that does form ahead of the cold front marching this way could be strong, with gusty wind and some heavy rain.

Have a look at some rain showers in the area right now on the Grand Rapids NEXRAD radar:

Grand Rapids NEXRAD 

And here are the previously mentioned clouds headed in ahead of the cold front:

Visible Satellite Image

Here's the forecast:

Today:  Cloudy, some scattered showers this afternoon, high 62.  South winds turn NNW 7-14 MPH.

Tonight:  Periods of showers with perhaps a thunderstorm, cooler, lows near 36, wind NW 6-12 MPH.

Wednesday:  Cloudy, scattered showers through mid-afternoon, cooler, high only 48.  Wind WSW 7-14 MPH.

Wednesday night:  Clouds diminishing, cold, lows near 34.  Wind W 6-12 MPH.

Thursday:  Becoming partly sunny, chilly, high 51, wind W 7-14 MPH.

Friday:  Mainly sunny with some passing clouds, warmer, high 61.

Saturday:  Becoming cloudy, perhaps the chance of a stray shower, high 64.

Sunday:  Mostly cloudy, a shower or two cannot be ruled out, high 66.

Monday:  A mix of clouds and sunshine, pleasantly mild, high 70.

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