5-8 inches of snow could hit Metro Detroit Saturday, warning in place for parts of SE Mich.
Weather forecasters said southeast Michigan is in for its first serious snowstorm of the season this weekend while residents in other parts of the state brace for another round of accumulation.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Advisory from 3 p.m. Saturday through 10 a.m. Sunday for multiple counties in southeast Michigan, including Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Monroe counties, when between 5 and 7 inches are expected to fall.
A Winter Storm Warning, meanwhile, was in effect for Midland, Bay, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Livingston, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties, when between 5 and 8 inches could fall.
Experts said a light snowfall is expected blanket the region Saturday afternoon with intensity picking up in the evening and into Saturday night. Up to an inch per hour could fall between 6 p.m. and midnight, the NWS said.
Motorists are asked to slow down and be extra cautious while driving.
“Be prepared for slippery roads,” the advisory said. “If you are going outside, watch your first few steps taken on stairs, sidewalks, and driveways. These surfaces could be slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury.”
Other parts of the state are preparing for more snow Saturday after several inches Thanksgiving Day. The NWS snowfall report map showed the highest total Thursday was 31.3 inches in rural Gogebic County, just across the state line from Hurley, Wisconsin, in the Upper Peninsula.
Up to another 7 inches could fall in parts of the U.P. between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the weather service said.
Saturday’s snowstorm could dump up to 10 inches parts of central, south central, southwest and west-central Michigan, according to an NWS Winter Storm Warning in effect for 14 counties from 7 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday.
Residents in those areas are being advised to “delay all travel if possible,” according to the warnings, which said visibility could drop below a quarter-mile.
For the next week, the high in Metro Detroit won’t rise above 36 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Friday
and Saturday will see highs of 34; Sunday will be slightly warmer, topping out at 36. On Monday, temperatures drop to 29 and won’t rise above 30 until Thursday.
Rain is likely Sunday morning, mixing with the snow after 10 a.m., then gradually ending, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures rising to around freezing toward the end of the storm will result in wet snow, and winds will pick up to as much as 35 mph.
“Fortunately as we were just discussing about it being a wetter snow, that’ll help crust the top,” said Steve Freitag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “That wind should not cause too many issues with blowing snow.”
Snow will stop after Sunday as the weather cools, with lows around 18 at night and highs of 29 Monday during the day. The highs are projected to hover more than 10 degrees below average, NWS records show.
Though Monday and Tuesday are forecast to remain partly sunny, the rest of the week will be mostly cloudy.
“It will warm up Sunday, then be below freezing next week for the highs, so the snow will stick around,” Freitag said.
Thousands of people in the Upper Peninsula did not have power Wednesday night. By Friday, most had power returned, though there were still areas with outages.
Ontonagon County Rural Electrification Association in the northwest Upper Peninsula had about 2,400 customers without power Friday afternoon, which is 92.7% of the customers it serves.
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mreinhart@detroitnews.com
