


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Detroit/Pontiac, MI
Issued by NWS Detroit/Pontiac, MI
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666 FXUS63 KDTX 170857 CCA AFDDTX Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI 457 AM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Hot and humid today through mid-week. - Small chances for showers and thunderstorms later today into Wednesday morning. - Slight to Enhanced Risk for severe weather Wednesday afternoon into the evening. All hazards are in play including damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain and a few tornadoes will be possible. - Storm chances Thursday and Friday into Saturday. Even hotter and humid conditions over the weekend as temperatures push 90 degrees and above. && .DISCUSSION... Deeper southwest flow kicks in today and will inject more warm and moist air into Michigan. Temperatures at 850 mb climb to around 17C, which will support a rather warm day with high temperatures into the upper 80s. The extra moisture will also make for a very muggy day as mid to upper 60s dewpoints lift into southeast Michigan. A mid/upper wave with associated surface low pressure will be tracking northeast out of Lake Superior across Ontario throughout today. This will draw a cold front across Lake Michigan this morning and into central lower Michigan this afternoon and evening. Instability ahead of this front will be formidable SBCAPE to around 1000 J/kg, but deep layer shear will be lacking greatly. Many CAMs are not generating much in the way of convection through this afternoon as the front approaches southeast Michigan. Will maintain the inherited ~25 pct PoPs given the available instability and presence of the front. Timing is focused across Saginaw Valley/Thumb and perhaps down to the I-69 corridor this afternoon into the early evening. Confidence is not high for this activity. Any convection that is able to develop would be more pulse type convection given the lack of shear and any strong updrafts that can gain traction would be capable of isolated strong winds. Cold front is expected to stall out across southern lower Michigan late this evening providing a focus for the next round of convection. The activity late this evening/tonight will have better PV advection driving a concentrated area of showers and thunderstorms into southwest lower Michigan that may eventually follow along the front into southeast Michigan. Models maintain some instability while deep layer shear becomes better tonight. PoPs of 25 to 30 pct look good for now. Expectation is for this activity to be sub-severe, but may require some monitoring. Greatest focus remains on Wednesday into Wednesday night and the potential for severe weather including damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes. Frontal boundary will again be the focus for convection through Wednesday as a potent shortwave and a deepening surface low tracks along the front through central Lower Michigan some time Wednesday evening. There remains some differences in timing of the low and placement of the frontal boundaries, but several models are converging on the more bullish outcome in regards to severe weather. The stalled frontal boundary will lift northward as a warm front preceding the low during the day. A very moist (dewpoints to 70 degrees/PWATs > 1.75 inches), unstable (MLCAPE 1000- 1500 J/kg/SBCAPE 2000+ per RAP), and favorably sheared environment (40-50 knots of 0-6km bulk shear/20-30 knots of low level shear/curved low level hodographs) will be in place in the warm sector. The 00Z suite of CAMs remain split on Wednesday afternoon activity along the warm front as the nose of the 50-60 knot LLJ impinges on the CWA. Any activity that can initiate along the warm front will be worth monitoring for severe potential. The greatest severe threat lies late Wednesday afternoon and evening as the surface low tracks across central Michigan with the anticipated line of strong to severe thunderstorms on the prefrontal trough if instability remains available into the evening. All hazards will be in play with current timing of greatest threat window based on CAM solutions some time between 23Z and 04Z. Damaging wind impacts, QLCS tornadoes, and heavy rainfall will be the greatest threats with Wednesday evening activity. Thunderstorm potential continues on Thursday as ascent remains present with the arrival of the main longer wave trough. Then a brief break in precipitation chances during the day Friday before ridge riding MCS potential comes into play Friday night in Saturday, though trends have been more to the north with latest guidance. Strong ridge of high pressure then builds into region resulting in hot and very muggy conditions with high pushing above 90 degrees and above for the weekend. && .MARINE... A low pressure system is tracking from northern Minnesota across the northern Great Lakes this morning, pulling a warm front up through the region. This will lead to southerly winds today generally holding below 20 knots. The offshore flow should also minimize any increased wave potential. A second low will pass over lower MI an d Lake Huron on Wednesday bringing the potential for a round of strong to severe thunderstorms across the region Wednesday afternoon into the overnight. Active pattern could continue through the end of the week with a cold front stalling across northern MI Thursday and another low Friday night or Saturday. && .HYDROLOGY... Gulf moisture feed pushing PW values near daily records offers heavy rain/flooding potential with storms Wednesday and Wednesday evening. Soundings show warm cloud depths of 12-15kft throughout the day increasing precip efficiency with any preceding showers/storms along the front daytime Wednesday as well as convection with the low itself late day. One additional point of concern that will need to be watched in coming model cycles is some signal amongst model solutions supporting training convection during the day along the frontal boundary before the arrival of the low which could boost overall QPF. Average rainfall totals over the course of Wednesday will be 0.75-1.50 inches with locally higher totals possible. Stronger storms and/or repeated rounds of thunderstorms will be capable of a quick 1-2 inches in a 1-3 hour window. This brings with it flooding concerns, especially if higher intensity rainfall impacts urban areas. && .PREV DISCUSSION... Issued at 1156 PM EDT Mon Jun 16 2025 AVIATION... Surface ridge axis with anticyclonic trajectory influence will persist across Southeast Michigan tonight. There is some potential for light br/hz at daybreak Tuesday. Surface trough and convergence axis will approach southeast Michigan from the northwest Tuesday afternoon. Surface wind directions are expected to veer to the south southwest with notable midlevel thetae advection. The potential exist for isolated to scattered thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon 21z-24z. Low confidence exists in development and coverage and will limit mention to PROB30 groups at the Detroit terminals. For DTW/D21 Convection...Introduced a Prob30 group for thunderstorms 21-24z Tuesday. No severe weather expected. THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES... * There is a low chance for ceilings at or below 5000 feet Tuesday morning. * There is a low chance for thunderstorms between 21z-00z Tuesday. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...None. Lake Huron...None. Lake St Clair...None. Michigan waters of Lake Erie...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...AA MARINE.......DRK HYDROLOGY....AA AVIATION.....CB You can obtain your latest National Weather Service forecasts online at www.weather.gov/detroit.