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According to MAT chief meteorologist Ryan Martin, moisture won’t be a big issue over the weekend. The biggest story is the frigid air that’s on the way.
“We’re looking at the worst of the cold air peaking as we go through the overnight Friday night through Saturday morning,” he said. “We are going to be seeing the entire state of Michigan well-below freezing—mid 20s—which means you’re going to be looking at probably five, six, seven hours or more of sub-freezing temperatures.”
He says that air will be enough to damage vegetation and blossoms, but crops that have been planted and have slightly emerged, they won’t see much damage.
“It’s definitely going to slow germination and how things run from here over the next few days,” said Martin.
Through Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, Martin is expecting temperatures to stay below normal. There could also be a slight chance of precipitation.
“Then we start to see strong southwest flow return across the state Thursday into Friday,” he said. “Interestingly enough, we don’t see any significant moisture until we see that return flow from the southwest. The only thing we have to worry about is maybe a few scattered showers late Sunday afternoon and into the overnight—mostly I-94 southward.”
If there are some showers Sunday, Martin expects them to amount to a tenth or two of an inch or less. By the end of the week, roughly 90 percent of the state could receive a up to 2/3 of an inch of rain. However, that moisture won’t last long.
“We shift back into a drier window for next Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th,” he said. “Right now, the extended forecast window is looking to be more on the dry side. The models are in a big disagreement, but we’re looking at one system in that extended window from the 18th to the 23rd.”
