Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Issued by NWS Grand Rapids, MI
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937 FXUS63 KGRR 061742 AFDGRR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 142 PM EDT Sat Jun 6 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry and seasonably warm this weekend - Showers and thunderstorms return late Monday into Tuesday - Hotter and humid late week with chances (30-50 percent) for thunderstorms && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 142 PM EDT Sat Jun 6 2026 - Dry and seasonably warm this weekend Down around I-94, we are not totally out of the woods yet regarding thunderstorm potential this afternoon. However, satellite water vapor imagery indicates drier air associated with subsidence is now overspreading this area and visible imagery indicates that cumulus convection already looks decidedly less vigorous than it did an hour ago. Can`t rule out a stray shower or thunderstorm however. By this evening, precipitation chances should all but disappear for the rest of the weekend. A sharp northern stream upper ridge will cross the western Great Lakes during the remainder of this weekend, yielding dry conditions and surface pressure ridging. Light northeast surface winds on Sunday will result in slightly drier conditions with maximum temperatures highest immediately by the lakeshore. - Showers and thunderstorms return late Monday into Tuesday By late Monday, the upper level ridge axis will have progressed to the eastern Great Lakes, leaving the western Great Lakes beneath southwest flow aloft. An upper PV max in this flow approaches Lower MI Monday, bringing favorable mid-level ascent and resultant destabilization. As noted previously, we remain in a marginal risk for excessive rainfall on Tuesday. Additionally, some of the NCAR ML guidance hints at a chance for severe weather on Tuesday across parts of Lower MI. That said, deep layer shear appears rather weak as does the mean flow in the cloud bearing layer. This supports the idea of slow-moving multicell clusters with the potential to produce locally heavy rainfall and perhaps marginally severe wind gusts. - Hotter and humid late week with chances (30-50 percent) for thunderstorms The latest round of guidance advertises greater precipitation chances starting Wednesday at the same time lower tropospheric temperatures are expected to rise. It should be noted that forecast highs are strongly based on NBM guidance, which has been a bit of a warm outlier compared to other sources such as the ECMWF ensemble, for instance. Diurnally augmented thunderstorms earlier in the day are quite plausible given persistent background conditional instability; this would have a damping effect on achieving high temperatures. So, this becomes a tricky temperature forecast given that deep moist convection is highly plausible throughout the period. This will be a very summer-like pattern with the typical limited predictability issues that accompany it. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 142 PM EDT Sat Jun 6 2026 Cumulus development through early afternoon mainly from BTL to JXN could support a low chance / PROB30 / for a shower to impact those terminals through about 20z. Otherwise, expecting some cloud bases around 3-4k ft this afternoon before clearing this evening and tonight. Light W to WNW winds this afternoon go light and variable overnight before turning ENE into Saturday morning. && .MARINE... Issued at 142 AM EDT Sat Jun 6 2026 No headlines for elevated winds and waves are anticipated, but marine fog will remain a threat over the open waters. There is some question regarding how much the nearshore waters will similarly be affected as we saw this morning. The next couple days will be more favorable for lake/land breeze circulations that may help to dilute the marine boundary layer by the lakeshore and reduce the fog threat. However, even if this happens conditions could be significantly worse even a couple of miles offshore. We will need to monitor satellite and webcams to further assess this. Otherwise, thunderstorms will be a lingering threat from late Monday onward. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...None. MARINE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...TJT AVIATION...Hoving MARINE...TJT