Metro Detroit could set another weather record Friday
After some extremely cold days this winter, there’s a good chance that on Friday the high temperatures in metro Detroit could get into the 60s, setting a record.
But, if you like the warmer weather, don’t get too excited.
By early next week, it’s likely to dip into the 20s again — and even snow.
Climate scientists have blamed many of last year’s deadly disasters around the globe — wildfires, floods and record heat — on extreme weather events, including storms that recently pummeled California with a deluge of record-breaking rainfall, snow and wind.
However, Dave Kook, a National Weather Service meteorologist in White Lake Township, said this month’s temperature change in metro Detroit is more likely attributable to the beginning of a change in seasons, than climate change.
“We’re getting out of the winter period, where there are better chances to just lock into the cold air,” he explained. “We’re now getting into the more turbulent — late winter, early spring — period, where temperature fluctuations become more frequent.”
In the past few days, temperature highs have been in the 40s, and a record, Kook said, “could be in the works.”
Friday, the high is expected to reach 60 degrees. The record-high, set in 2001, was 56 degrees, which means that if the forecast is right, a new record temperature would be set.
The warmer weather, Kook said, is being caused by a low-pressure system to the west, which is drawing up warmer winds from the south.
And, for those who believe in folklore, Punxsutawney Phil — one of several groundhogs folks were watching — did not see his shadow when he emerged from his Pennsylvania burrow on Feb. 2, indicating an early spring is on its way.
There’s a chance for rain showers in metro Detroit from about 8 p.m. to about 2 a.m. Friday, and then more rainfall — maybe a couple tenths
of an inch — the next day, from midnight to about 2 p.m.
February may have started warmer than normal, Kook added, but don’t pack away your knit hats, coats, scarves, gloves and boots just yet: Colder weather soon, and later this month, likely will even out the monthly average.
On Saturday, Kook said, the temperatures are forecast to drop into the 50s, then the 40s on Sunday, and into the 30s and below, which could bring snow on Monday. More snow — an inch or 2 — could fall Wednesday, and then next Thursday evening into Friday.