Near-record cold early this morning; 40 degrees this weekend

First, here is a look at snowfall amounts from the New Year’s Eve snowstorm. The heaviest snow fell west of Alpena, away from the shoreline, 9 inches accumulated in Lewiston and Atlanta. Alpena and Mio dealt with amounts close to 7 inches. Lesser amounts of snow fell farther south, about 2-3 inches, because there was prolonged mixed precipitation and even rain in Iosco and Ogemaw counties during the afternoon hours on December 31.

Clear skies and calm winds after a fresh few inches of snowfall is a perfect recipe for extremely cold temperatures, and that’s what happened this morning. We started the day with an early-morning low of -8 degrees, just 1 degree warmer than the record of -9 degrees set 95 years ago.

Since this morning, temperatures have rebounded into the mid-20s for most of Northeast Michigan, and upper 20s at the shoreline of Alcona and Iosco counties. In the afternoon, winds picked up out of the south to about 10 mph.

The transport of warm air into our area along with a weak disturbance moving through the state has produced widespread light snow this afternoon/evening, already on the way out. Drier weather currently to our west will move in late tonight, lasting into the upcoming weekend.

Tomorrow will start with cloudy skies and temperatures close to 20 degrees in the morning. A little sunshine (mixed with clouds) is possible in the afternoon as temperatures reach the lower 30s. Overnight temperatures late Thursday-early Friday will remain mild, in the middle/upper 20s.

A mix of sun and clouds is forecast tomorrow afternoon, although that may lean more toward cloudiness with highs in the lower 30s. Temperatures are expected to warm close to 40 degrees Friday and Saturday with a mix of sun and clouds for both of those days. Cloudy skies are expected on Sunday, then a storm system is forecast to develop over the Plains and bring snow to our area on Monday — exact details on timing and snowfall amounts are uncertain at this point, and will become clearer as we get closer to Monday. For the rest of Northeast Michigan’s weather forecast, watch the latest weather video by clicking the weather tab at the top of the page.