Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Detroit/Pontiac, MI

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000 FXUS63 KDTX 220401 AFDDTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI 1201 AM EDT Mon Apr 22 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- A Frost Advisory is in effect this morning for all of Southeast Michigan. - Warming trend continues today with dry and sunny conditions. - Showers and possibly a thunderstorm arrive Tuesday with gustier winds. - Dry and cooler conditions return Wednesday.
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&& .AVIATION...
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VFR conditions will prevail through the early morning hours under mostly clear skies and a light west wind. SCT/BKN diurnal cumulus field should develop during the afternoon preceding an increase in high clouds toward the later part of the afternoon downstream of an inbound trough. Increasing southwest gradient during the afternoon will support winds at around 10 knots with some gusts approaching 20 knots. Overall flow in the boundary layer will be around 20 knots or less during peak mixing in the afternoon with better flow arriving after nocturnal stability sets in. VFR conditions expected to prevail during the evening as gusts diminish, but southwest winds hold around 10 knots. DTW THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES... * Low in ceilings aob 5000 feet through today.
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&& .PREV DISCUSSION... Issued at 343 PM EDT Sun Apr 21 2024 DISCUSSION... Cooler resident thermal profile still entrenched to finish the weekend period. Weak surface ridging arrives overnight as deep layer stability strengthens under broader anticyclonic mid level flow as upper heights slowly build. Emerging corridor of warm air advection upstream unlikely to arrive nocturnally with low level flow still veered, affording a reasonable window of solid radiational cooling under the mostly open sky, a very dry mid level profile and diminishing overall gradient flow. A targeted low temperature range of 31 to 35 degrees on track, highlighting some potential for patchy/areas of frost. Frost advisory now in effect overnight after collaboration with surrounding offices. Modest warming trend Monday as weak warm air advection solidifies under low level southwest flow and capitalizes on a high degree of isolation potential within transient shortwave upper ridging. High temperatures arriving invof average - lower 60s. Strengthening upper level jet streak emerging along the south flank of a mid level system ejecting out of southwest Canada will direct a plume of higher moisture eastward toward the region. Associated uptick in mid level moist isentropic ascent will bring a good chance for light rain development late Monday night into early Tuesday. Exit pace of this initial period of supportive upward vertical motion will dictate duration window, if any, for dry conditions to exist into Tuesday afternoon, before attention turns to the inbound mid level wave set to arrive Tuesday night. Some improvement in mixing depth with time translates into gusty southwest conditions for the afternoon. Combination of dcva and frontal forcing acting on steep mid level lapse rates then yields a higher probability for convective shower development from northwest to southeast Tuesday evening into early Tuesday night. General reduction in column stability above 700 mb affords an isolated t-storm opportunity, but too limited in magnitude or depth to bring concern for greater organization. Remainder of the mid week period marked by dry and stable conditions as expansive high pressure settles in beneath weakly confluent mid level northwest flow. Sustained period of cold air advection results in well below average temperatures Wednesday. Magnitude of this cold air intrusion brings renewed frost/freeze considerations for Wednesday night as the surface high centers over the local area. Benign weather lasting through at least Thursday as dry low level easterly flow maintains control within lingering ridging. Modest warming trend as geopotential heights build with time, but with temps still on the cooler side of average Thursday. Prototypical corridor of warm/moist air advection emerges upstream late next week, responding to increasing magnitude and depth of southwest flow ahead of a mid level wave ejecting out of the southwest conus. This pattern offers increasing likelihood for rain to manifest within the broader zone of isentropic ascent along an advancing elevated warm frontal boundary. This will establish a period of wet conditions sometime late Friday into Friday night. Less defined forecast heading into next weekend, with the detail reliant on behavior of the governing wave as it continues northeast into the upper miss valley and any corresponding response downstream within the warm sector. MARINE... Breezy conditions are in place today with northwest flow over Lake Huron leading to improved fetch through the northern half of the basin. This offers peak winds near 30 knots through this evening as a trough/frontal axis clips the northern waterways. Elsewhere, high pressure builds into the region resulting in a relaxed pressure gradient late tonight and into Monday morning. A Small Craft Advisory will expire over Saginaw Bay this evening as waves respond to decreasing wind speeds, attributed to the influence of high pressure. The composite ridge gets displaced toward the east Monday afternoon as a closed low over Saskatchewan opens up and phases with a jet streak as the merged upper-level wave crosses into the High Plains. This backs winds southerly by Monday afternoon with enhanced flow across Lake Huron, including some diurnally drive gusts to around 30 knots for a few hours. The low then crosses central Ontario on Tuesday bringing a period of showers, a few thunderstorms, and stronger southwesterly winds to the Great Lakes. Brisk northerly flow ensues Wednesday with some low-end potential for gales. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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MI...Frost Advisory until 8 AM EDT Monday for MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063- 068>070-075-076-082-083. Lake Huron...None. Lake St Clair...None. Michigan waters of Lake Erie...None.
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&& $$ AVIATION.....AA DISCUSSION...MR MARINE.......KGK You can obtain your latest National Weather Service forecasts online at www.weather.gov/detroit.

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