Spring Slated For A Weekend Arrival!

Good Morning!

A raw, windy day to start this Friday here in Jackson, a few showers and readings in the upper 30's, with a stiff breeze.  We'll give that up soon for some changing conditions with some warming this weekend and into next week.  A deeper dive? You bet.

CLOUDS AND RAIN FOR NOW:  Just taking a look at the radar tells you everything you need to see.  Low pressure is tracking across Michigan from southwest to northeast right now, and there's plenty enough moisture to touch off showers and even a little bit of thunder.  As much as I hate to say it, there's also still the chance of some frozen precipitation, so yes, a hint of snow is possible.  As the low moves off, we start to erase these clouds later today, and I expect to see some sunshine by sunset.  Here's where we are now:

The center of that low I mentioned is up around the Grayling/Alpena area as I write this, and you can see the warm and cold sides of the system clearly in the precipitation shading on Tru-Track Doppler.  The precipitation should be gone by about 1 PM or so, then clouds stay around and don't really thin out until late this evening or even tonight.  This is a change from yesterday, when I suggested we'd have some blue sky in here by evening drive.  That now looks a little bit fast.  We'll see.

COOLER TONIGHT & TOMORROW:  The low gets pushed on out of here by Canadian high pressure, which will clear the skies, but also drop temperatures in the process.  Lows come in a bit under freezing tonight, and the cooler air persists into tomorrow, as another upper wave works into the area.  As a result of that second wave coming in, I can't rule out a shower or even a brief snow shower tomorrow.

SUNDAY BRINGS THE GOOD STUFF:  The upper wave comes and goes fairly quickly tomorrow, so we can turn our attention from there to Sunday, which brings winds turning back southerly, pulling in warmer air and climbing temperatures.  Average high in the area is around 52, we get to and past that number Sunday and  into the start the of work week.  Opening Day at Comerica Park for the Tigers on Monday looks really good right now, with sunshine and readings near 60 expected around southern Michigan, including Motown.

NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN TUESDAY:  We get through a portion of Tuesday in clear fashion, but start introducing clouds into the area Tuesday afternoon, and along with them, a chance of rain, cooler air behind that.

PRECIPITATION FIGURES:  We really don't see a lot of precipitation the next 5 days here in Michigan.  Have a look at this map that takes us through 8 AM on Wednesday, and you can see that we only pick up about a quarter inch of liquid, which is good.  That means that any precipitation events will be light, while we keep the temperature readings up to melt the snow.

As you can see, this five day precipitation map has us kind of in-between systems, with heavier rains east, and rain (with some snow too) northwest of us.  This map doesn't care about temperatures, it only predicts total liquid that is expected to fall.

This also means that low-lying areas and areas close to rivers will have to keep an eye out for flood problems the next several days, as we melt our snow into water.

Here's the forecast for Jackson and surrounding areas including Spring Arbor and Napoleon:

And here's the good stuff as advertised:

Have a wonderful Friday!  Blessings.