Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Detroit/Pontiac, MI
Issued by NWS Detroit/Pontiac, MI
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543 FXUS63 KDTX 191734 AFDDTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI 1234 PM EST Wed Nov 19 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry conditions with highs mainly in the 40s are forecast today and Thursday. - A low chance for rain or drizzle Thursday night along and behind a cold front. - High pressure will move into the region for the beginning of the weekend with highs in the low 50s. && .AVIATION... High pressure centered right over the Great Lakes has maintained mostly clear skies, with high-based cirrus now streaming in from the west. Wind direction will veer southeasterly and eventually southerly as high pressure departs the region. This will allow the stagnant pool of low-level moisture to slowly expand back into Michigan from south to north through the overnight hours. The MVFR cigs seen along and south of the Michigan border will fill in across all terminals as a result, and will hold for through the remainder of the TAF period. DTW THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES... * High in cigs aob 5kft by tomorrow morning. && .PREV DISCUSSION... Issued at 316 AM EST Wed Nov 19 2025 DISCUSSION... Fairly quiet forecast for the week as a split flow pattern keeps the strongest northern stream flow up across Canada while the weaker southern stream is steered by a cutoff upper low over the SW conus and held mainly south of the region. The upper low will eject a few weak shortwaves across the central/southern conus through the weekend the low itself gets forced east by a strong northern stream trough coming ashore the Pacific NW early in the new week. This would result in a mid week system for the Great Lakes. First things first, high pressure at the surface is building in behind the exiting system from Tuesday while a flattening shortwave ridge axis passes over the region. Sounding offer strong signals for deep layer subsidence and a strong low level inversion. This leads to some cloud concerns as mid level clouds are scouring and the bulk of the moisture gets shunted southward through the day. At the same time, winds out of the N/NE will attempt to pump some moisture off Lake Huron under the inversion which would bring some low stratus into the Thumb and potentially points southward. Clouds are already showing up over central Lake Huron and into Huron County so will be something to keep an eye on. Lack of overall moisture and mixing layer depth (up to 3kft) will offer little in the way of any precip. Thermal field improves only slightly today with 850mb temps rising from around -1C Tues up to 2C today. With low mixed layer depths, but more sun than Tues, expect temps to rebound a few degrees back to the low to mid 40s. Attention turns toward the stronger mid level wave and surface low passing from Central Canada through northern Ontario mid to late week. This system will send a cold front down through the region on Thurs-Thurs night bringing the next chance of rain. Models continue to trend drier with the frontal passage as a southern stream wave passing through the Ohio Valley looks to block the moisture feed northward ahead of the front. We look to reside in no mans land in between the two systems with only the front and weak theta e increase to work with under confluent mid level flow. Soundings show weak moisture returns in the mid levels with the bulk of the moisture still residing below 6kft, consistent with earlier runs. So will continue the slight chance to low chance pops mention for light rain, mainly Thursday night. Warmer than normal conditions (highs in the low 50s) then hold through the remainder of the forecast with 850mb temps hovering in the mid single digits still under the split flow longwave pattern. NBM offers a chance of precip across the Ohio Border Friday as a system passes to the south with the cold front sagging just south of the state line. This is probably a bit aggressive with the bulk of model solutions showing the moisture and precip holding well south of the border so look for drying trend in upcoming forecasts. MARINE... Increasing influence of high pressure overnight has led to a general anticyclonic nature to the wind field, characterized by NW winds over Lake Huron and NE winds over Lake Erie. The high drifts overhead throughout the day, maintaining dry conditions and light winds. The high departs into Ontario by this evening, with winds shifting to the south as a result. Winds organize out of the southwest by Thursday and strengthen to 15-20 knots in advance of a cold front set to track across the Great Lakes Thursday night into Friday. Rain chances blanket the marine zones during this timeframe, but otherwise winds and waves look to remain below headline thresholds into the weekend. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...None. Lake Huron...None. Lake St Clair...None. Michigan waters of Lake Erie...None. && $$ AVIATION.....AM DISCUSSION...DRK MARINE.......MV You can obtain your latest National Weather Service forecasts online at www.weather.gov/detroit.