553  
FXUS63 KDTX 251953  
AFDDTX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI  
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI  
353 PM EDT THU APR 25 2024  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- DRY CONDITIONS BRING ANOTHER COLD NIGHT TONIGHT AND THEN A WARMING  
TREND WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S ON FRIDAY.  
 
- SHOWERS ARE LIKELY FRIDAY NIGHT WITH A CHANCE FOR A FEW EMBEDDED  
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.  
 
- BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS DEVELOP SATURDAY AFTERNOON. GUSTS UP TO 30  
MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE.  
 
- THERE IS A CHANCE FOR ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT SATURDAY  
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A MARGINAL RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS IN  
PLACE FOR NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. AN ISOLATED STORM  
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER AND GUSTS UP  
TO 60 MPH WITH STORM MOTION FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
WE HAVE ISSUED A FREEZE WARNING FOR INTERIOR SECTIONS AND A FROST  
ADVISORY FOR THE COUNTIES BORDERING LAKE HURON FOR TONIGHT. THE  
AIRMASS WILL BE MODIFIED A BIT FROM LAST NIGHT AND RETURN FLOW BEGINS  
LATE TONIGHT AS THE SURFACE RIDGE BEGINS TO MOVE EAST, BUT MODEL  
SOUNDINGS STILL SHOW AN VERY DRY AIRMASS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY WITH  
PRECIPITABLE WATER DOWN NEAR 0.15 INCHES. THIS SHOULD ALLOW  
TEMPERATURES TO DROP QUICKLY LIKE LAST NIGHT. THERE COULD BE SOME  
WIND PICKING UP BY 12Z...BUT WE STILL EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO DROP TO  
AROUND 30 IN THE WARNING AREA AND LOWER 30S IN THE ADVISORY.  
 
- SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARRIVE FRIDAY NIGHT  
 
RETURN FLOW INCREASES FRIDAY BUT IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO MOISTEN  
THE COLUMN OF THE VERY DRY ATMOSPHERE AND SHOWERS WILL PROBABLY  
HOLD OFF UNTIL FRIDAY NIGHT ALTHOUGH CLOUDS WILL BE IN THE INCREASE  
IN THE AFTERNOON.  
 
A LARGE AREA OF ISENTROPIC ASCENT AND STRONG WARM ADVECTION  
PATTERN COMBINE WITH THE ARRIVAL OF DEEP MOISTURE TO BRING  
INCREASING CHANCES FOR RAIN FRIDAY NIGHT AND ELEVATED INSTABILITY  
SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR ISOLATED THUNDER AND SOME HEAVIER DOWNPOURS  
LATE FRIDAY NIGHT.  
 
LOW CONFIDENCE AT PRESENT IN CONVECTIVE TRENDS FOR LATER SATURDAY  
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A CONDITIONALLY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR  
ORGANIZED CONVECTION WILL BE PRESENT GIVEN MUCAPE VALUES OF OVER 1000  
J/KG AS MOISTURE CLIMBS IN STRONG SW FLOW, AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR  
VALUES CLIMBING TO 35-45 KNOTS THANKS TO FAVORABLE JUXTAPOSITION OF  
THE LOW AND MID-LEVEL JETS. THREAT IS OBVIOUSLY DEPENDENT ON WHETHER  
CONVECTIVE INITIATION (CI) OCCURS. FRONTAL FORCING IS NOT OVERLY  
IMPRESSIVE AND THE UPPER SHORTWAVE REMAINS TO THE WEST; HENCE LIMITED  
SYNOPTIC/SUB-SYNOPTIC FORCING FOR UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION. IF STORMS  
CAN DEVELOP, THEY HAVE SOME ORGANIZATION POTENTIAL PER THE SPC  
MARGINAL OUTLOOKS. THAT SAID, LOW-LEVEL SHEAR WILL BE MOSTLY BE  
BOUNDARY-PARALLEL WHICH TENDS TO FAVORS RAPID UPSCALE GROWTH INTO AN  
OUTFLOW DOMINANT CONVECTIVE LINE. IT THEREFORE MAKES SENSE THAT A  
SOMEWHAT GREATER RISK WILL REMAIN TO THE NORTHWEST WHERE CI IS MORE  
LIKELY TO BE. REGARDLESS OF CONVECTIVE OUTCOME, IT WILL BE A BREEZY  
DAY WITH GUSTS WELL INTO THE 30 MPH RANGE.  
 
FOR SUNDAY...THE WARM FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BE OVER CENTRAL LOWER MI  
AND WITH IT A SECOND ROUND OF SHOWERS AND STORMS IS POSSIBLE GIVEN  
MUCAPE VALUES NORTH OF 1000 J/KG.  
 
SHOWERS THEN EXPAND ACROSS LOWER MI SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY AS THE  
COLD FRONT DRIFTS SOUTH BEFORE CLEARING THE AREA MONDAY EVENING. CAPE  
VALUES ON THE ECMWF AND GFS STILL LOOK TO BE ABOVE 500 J/KG SO  
THUNDER CONTINUES TO BE POSSIBLE.  
 
DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR THE TUESDAY NIGHT TIMEFRAME AS PERIOD OF  
SURFACE RIDGING DRIFTS OVER THE AREA. AFTER THIS, FORECAST  
PREDICTABILITY FOR THE FINER DETAILS DROPS, BUT THE GENERAL THEME  
SEEMS TO BE MEAN TROUGHING ALOFT WITH A RELATIVELY WET AND UNSETTLED  
PATTERN FOR THE REST OF THE WORK WEEK.  
 
FOR THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK, 850MB TEMPERATURES CLIMB INTO  
THE TEENS WEEKEND, YIELDING SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S WITH EVEN  
80+ NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION IN SPOTS. INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK CAUSING  
TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB INTO THE 70S WITH LOW (AROUND 10 PERCENT)  
CHANCES THAT AREAS EXCEED 80 DEGREES.  
 

 
   
MARINE
 
 
HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN LIGHT FLOW WITH AN EASTERLY  
COMPONENT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. THE HIGH SHIFTS EAST FRIDAY INTO  
FRIDAY NIGHT AS STRONG LOW PRESSURE MOVES FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS TO  
THE UPPER MIDWEST, EVENTUALLY CROSSING LAKE SUPERIOR ON SATURDAY.  
THE STRENGTHENING PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THESE FEATURES WILL  
RESULT IN SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW RAMPING UP LATE FRIDAY, PEAKING LATE  
FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING, THEN VEERING SOUTHERLY ON  
SATURDAY WHILE GRADUALLY WEAKENING THROUGH THE DAY. THIS WILL ALSO  
USHER IN A MILD AIRMASS, WHICH WILL MAINTAIN VERY STABLE CONDITIONS  
OVER THE WATERS. LATEST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS A BRIEF WINDOW FOR GUSTS  
APPROACHING GALE FORCE ROUGHLY 09-15Z SATURDAY. THERE IS ALSO A  
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT.  
 

 
   
PREV DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 130 PM EDT THU APR 25 2024  
 
AVIATION...  
 
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON MAINTAINS  
DEEP STATIC STABILITY AND LIMITED CLOUD COVER THROUGH THE TAF  
PERIOD. LIGHT EASTERLY FLOW (LESS THAN 10 KNOTS) DEVIATES TO THE  
NORTHEAST AT MBS AND TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE DTW CORRIDOR AS LAKE  
BREEZES PUSH INLAND. MORE UNIFORM EASTERLY FLOW IS THEN RESTORED  
LATE THIS EVENING ALONGSIDE NOCTURNAL COOLING WITH A GENERAL UPTICK  
IN WIND SPEEDS FRIDAY MORNING TOWARD 10 KNOTS AS THE PRESSURE  
GRADIENT STRENGTHENS IN ADVANCE OF THE NEXT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM.  
 
DTW THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES...  
 
* NONE.  
 

 
   
DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
MI...FREEZE WARNING FROM 1 AM TO 8 AM EDT FRIDAY FOR MIZ047-053-054-  
060>062-068-069-075.  
 
FROST ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 8 AM EDT FRIDAY FOR MIZ048-049-055-063-  
070-076-082-083.  
 
LAKE HURON...NONE.  
LAKE ST CLAIR...NONE.  
MICHIGAN WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...NONE.  

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...TJT  
MARINE.......DBT  
AVIATION.....MV  
 
YOU CAN OBTAIN YOUR LATEST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS ONLINE  
AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/DETROIT.  
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab MI Page Main Text Page