070  
FXUS63 KDTX 152030  
AFDDTX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI  
330 PM EST SUN DEC 15 2024  
   
KEY MESSAGES  
 
 
- SCATTERED SHOWERS AND DRIZZLE GIVE WAY TO FOGGY CONDITIONS THIS  
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. POCKETS OF DENSE FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR  
PARTS OF THE AREA.  
 
- WIDESPREAD LIGHT RAIN ON MONDAY WITH VERY MILD CONDITIONS.  
 
- TEMPERATURES TREND DOWNWARD THROUGH THE WEEK WITH A CHANCE OF  
SNOW ON WEDNESDAY AND AGAIN THURSDAY NIGHT.  
 
 
   
DISCUSSION  
 
REGIONAL ANALYSIS THIS AFTERNOON HIGHLIGHTS A CLOSED UPPER LOW  
TRACKING EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN LOWER MI, BRINGING A POCKET OF LIGHT  
SHOWERS AS SURFACE TEMPS SIT IN THE UPPER 30S AND LOWER 40S. THE  
SURFACE LOW HAS ALREADY WASHED OUT UPSTREAM AS RAPID HEIGHT RISES  
COMMENCE ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER LOW. THIS PATTERN WILL INDUCE  
A LARGE SCALE MID TO UPPER LEVEL SUBSIDENCE RESPONSE OVER THE AREA  
TONIGHT. THE RESULTANT STRENGTHENING LOW-LEVEL INVERSION WILL TRAP  
ABUNDANT MOISTURE NEAR THE SURFACE, ALLOWING OVERCAST, MISTY/FOGGY,  
AND OVERALL DREARY BUT MILD CONDITIONS TO PERSIST THROUGH THE NIGHT.  
CONFIDENCE IS GROWING FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AREAS OF DENSE FOG,  
SUPPORTED BY UPSTREAM OBSERVATIONS THROUGH TODAY AND HI-RES  
GUIDANCE. MUCH OF THE MODEL SIGNAL FOR DENSE FOG IS FOCUSED ALONG  
THE GLACIAL RIDGE WHERE SSE FLOW WILL MAINTAIN A GENTLE UPSLOPE  
COMPONENT TO BRING HIGHEST CONFIDENCE IN LOW VISIBILITY. IF TRENDS  
PLAY OUT THIS EVENING A DENSE FOG ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR PARTS  
OF THE AREA. VISIBILITY HAS ALREADY DROPPED TO LESS THAN 1 MILE HERE  
ON THE HILLTOP IN WHITE LAKE.  
 
THE SHORTWAVE RIDGE ALOFT WILL GIVE WAY TO THE NEXT LONGWAVE TROUGH  
ARRIVING FROM THE MIDWEST ON MONDAY. THIS WILL TAKE A SLIGHT  
NEGATIVE TILT AS LEAD PV ENERGY EMERGES FROM THE SUBGEOSTROPHIC  
PORTION OF THE UPPER JET. THE RESULT WILL BE ANOTHER SURGE OF MILD  
AIR ON A STRENGTHENING SOUTHWESTERLY LLJ INCREASING 850MB TEMPS TO  
BETWEEN 5 AND 8 C. THIS WILL BOOST SURFACE HIGH TEMPS TO THE UPPER  
40S TO LOWER 50S. WITH THE SURGE OF MILD AIR COMES ADDITIONAL LOW TO  
MID LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION AND FOCUSED ISENTROPIC ASCENT,  
RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD LIGHT RAINFALL DURING THE DAY. A  
COLD/OCCLUDED FRONT THEN TRACKS ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY EVENING WITH  
ENERGETIC WESTERLY FLOW WORKING IN AMIDST THE ENSUING COLD  
ADVECTION. THIS WILL CAUSE WINDS TO GUST UPWARDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH FOR  
A BRIEF PERIOD LATE MONDAY EVENING. LIGHT DRIZZLE MAY LINGER  
OVERNIGHT AS LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE IS SLOW TO STRIP OUT.  
 
A BREEZY START TO TUESDAY WILL SEE WINDS EVENTUALLY TAPER OFF DURING  
THE AFTERNOON AS A WEAKER PRESSURE PATTERN SETTLES INTO THE SOUTHERN  
GREAT LAKES. DRY AIR ADVECTION AND MIXING INTO THE BOUNDARY LAYER  
MAY ALLOW FOR SOME EROSION OF THE LOW STRATUS AND BRING A FEW PEEKS  
OF SUN LATE IN THE DAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ON THE MILD SIDE WITH  
HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S.  
 
WEDNESDAY PRESENTS THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY FOR PRECIP AS THE ARRIVAL OF  
AN ARCTIC FRONT COINCIDES WITH THE PASSAGE OF A SOUTHERN STREAM LOW  
ALONG THE OHIO/TENNESSEE VALLEYS. SYSTEM RELATIVE STREAMLINES SHOW  
THE SOUTHERN SYSTEM'S COLD CONVEYOR BEING DIRECTED UP THE ELEVATED  
FRONTAL SLOPE OVER SE MI, RESULTING IN FORCING FOR ASCENT AND PRECIP  
PRODUCTION OVERHEAD. THE EVENTUAL COVERAGE/PLACEMENT OF THIS  
RELATIVELY NARROW BAND OF PRECIP WILL BE DICTATED BY POSITIONING AND  
INTERACTION OF THE UPPER LEVEL FEATURES THAT WILL COME MORE INTO  
FOCUS THE NEXT SEVERAL MODEL RUNS, ESPECIALLY AS THE PARENT PACIFIC  
AND ARCTIC LOWS MOVE INTO THE UPPER AIR SAMPLING NETWORK. THERMAL  
PROFILES DURING THIS PERIOD WOULD FAVOR MAINLY SNOW PTYPE WITH  
SURFACE TEMPS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S SUGGESTING A GOOD DEAL OF  
MELTING AND MINIMAL ACCUMULATIONS. THE LATE WEEK OUTLOOK HIGHLIGHTS  
FAIRLY HIGH CONFIDENCE IN A CLIPPER SYSTEM TRACKING INTO THE GREAT  
LAKES THURSDAY NIGHT, FOLLOWED BY A RETURN TO COLD CONDITIONS  
THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND.  
 
 
   
MARINE  
 
SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 KNOTS CONTINUE OVER LAKE HURON THIS  
AFTERNOON, ALLOWING 4+ WAVES TO IMPACT THE NEARSHORE ZONES. WINDS  
DIMINISH AND ATTEMPT TO BECOME MORE DUE SOUTHERLY TONIGHT. HOWEVER,  
A RENEWED INCREASE AND WINDS TOMORROW, ALONG WITH WAVES BUILDING  
BACK UP, HAVE ELECTED TO EXTEND SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES FOR SOUTHERN  
LAKE HURON THROUGH TUESDAY.  
 
RESUMED MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ADDITIONAL RAIN  
BY MONDAY. COLD FRONT, ATTACHED TO LOW PRESSURE TRACKING THROUGH  
ONTARIO AND NEAR JAMES BAY, WILL SWING THROUGH THE CENTRAL GREAT  
LAKES EARLY MONDAY EVENING. TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WITH 850 MB  
TEMPS LOWERING TO AROUND -8 C LOOKS SUPPORTIVE OF WIND GUSTS IN THE  
30 TO 35 KNOT RANGE OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LAKE HURON, LATE  
MONDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. HOWEVER, GUSTS TO GALES  
APPEAR TO BE BRIEF, AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT QUICKLY RELAXES DURING  
THE DAY ON TUESDAY. THUS, CONTINUES TO LOOK LIKE A GALE WATCH OR  
WARNING WILL NOT BE NEEDED.  
 
AN EVEN STRONGER COLD FRONT LOOKS TO BE MOVING THROUGH ON WEDNESDAY,  
AND NORTHERLY WINDS LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING WILL  
LIKELY REACH INTO THE 20 TO 30 KNOT RANGE, BUT ULTIMATELY INFLUENCED  
BY THE STRENGTH AND POSITION OF LOW PRESSURE TRACKING ALONG THE OHIO  
RIVER. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE QUICKLY FOLLOWS, ALLOWING FOR A  
PERIOD OF LIGHT WINDS TO END THE WORK WEEK.  
 
 
   
PREV DISCUSSION  
 
ISSUED AT 1259 PM EST SUN DEC 15 2024  
 
AVIATION...  
 
SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS/DRIZZLE WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS  
TERMINALS, ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN METRO TERMINALS, THROUGH  
THE AFTERNOON. WARMING SURFACE TEMPERATURES ENSURES ALL RAIN  
PRECIPITATION TYPE. ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS RESULTING IN  
IFR/LIFR CEILINGS THAT WILL STICK AROUND THROUGH TONIGHT AS LIGHT  
RAIN SHOWERS AND DRIZZLE CONDITIONS GRADUALLY FADE AND FOGGY  
CONDITIONS BECOME THE PREVAILING WEATHER. DOWNSTREAM OBSERVATIONS  
AND GUIDANCE SUPPORT IFR/LIFR VISIBILITY DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT THIS  
EVENING AND HOLDING THROUGH THE BULK OF TONIGHT. MAY BEGIN TO SEE  
SLIGHT IMPROVEMENTS POST 12Z TOMORROW MORNING AS FLOW BECOMES  
SOUTHERLY AND DRY AIR BEGINS TO MIX IN THE LOWER LEVELS.  
 
FOR DTW...LIGHT RAIN/DRIZZLE WILL TAPER OFF BY THIS EVENING WITH  
MEDIUM CONFIDENCE THAT CEILINGS/VSBYS WILL FALL INTO VLIFR  
RESTRICTIONS LATE THIS EVENING AND HOLD THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT  
PERIOD.  
 
DTW THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES...  
 
* HIGH FOR CEILINGS AT OR BELOW 5000 FEET THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.  
 
* HIGH IN PRECIPITATION BEING ALL RAIN THROUGH.  
 
* MEDIUM FOR CIGS/VSBY TO FALL BELOW 200 FT AND/OR 1/2 SM TONIGHT.  
 
 
   
DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
MI...NONE.  
LAKE HURON...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM EST TUESDAY FOR LHZ441>443.  
 
LAKE ST CLAIR...NONE.  
MICHIGAN WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...NONE.  
 
 
 
 
DISCUSSION...TF  
MARINE.......SF  
AVIATION.....AA  
 
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