Colder temperatures move in; Possible snow or wintry mix Friday AM

A low pressure system near the border of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula introduced a warm and unstable air mass into Lower Michigan. A round of showers moved through in the morning. A midday gap with some partial clearing and winds from the south allowed temperatures to spike. That fueled some instability for scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. This storm system’s cold front will bring a cooler air mass for Thursday. Winds out of the north will bring even colder air yet to arrive Friday.

The warm sector is the area of the storm system south of (“below”) the warm front and east of (“ahead of”) the cold front. That’s where the warmest temperatures situate, between the warm and cold fronts. In the warm sector of Thursday’s storm system, high temperatures got up to 67 degrees in Alpena. That set a new record for March 24, the old record set in 1976 was 66 degrees. High temperatures Wednesday reached the upper 60s across much of Lower Michigan. Notice the colder temperatures in the western Upper Peninsula and Minnesota, where highs were in the 40s. That’s the colder air on the way into our area late-week.

Winds will ease to about 10 mph Thursday afternoon. Winds will increase again early Friday, close to 20 mph out of the north. Winds should subside again going into Friday evening.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, dry for most of the day. A chance of rain showers will move in during the late-evening. Low temperatures will be near 40 degrees in the morning. Afternoon highs will get up to around 50 degrees. Evening temperatures will cool from the lower 40s to the upper 30s.

Friday: A chance of snow showers or a wintry mix will pass through Northeast Michigan during the morning. Drier conditions will settle in for the afternoon and evening. Early-morning temperatures will drop to about 30 degrees. Afternoon highs will be close to 42 degrees. Evening temperatures will head into the 30s.

Saturday: Starts dry, then a chance of rain showers will arrive late-day. Early-morning temperatures will begin in the middle 20s. Afternoon highs will reach near 45 degrees. Evening temperatures will be in the upper 30s.