“It’s cold!” You will hear that a lot this week, and it is warranted. In fact, it is dangerously cold.
Cold Weather Advisory
A cold weather advisory blankets all of Southeast Michigan until noon Wednesday. Wind chills as low as -25 degrees will be possible in Southeast Michigan during this timeframe.
While wind chills will not dip that low for everyone, Southeast Michigan will feel like it is below zero until Wednesday afternoon.
The conditions have prompted a 4Warn Weather Alert for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wind chill values of -19 degrees can cause frostbite to exposed skin in 30 minutes.
The formula for the Wind Chill Temperature Index used by the National Weather Service is based on an adult that stands at about 5 feet. Some individuals may be susceptible to losing heat faster.
Apart from cooling faster than adults, children may be more likely to lose a mitten or glove. Pets are also at risk for hypothermia and frostbite and should be brought indoors.
While it is the coldest month of the year for us, temperatures will be 20 to 25 degrees colder than average on Monday night and Tuesday.
Monday Evening and Night
After temperatures on Monday afternoon peak near 10 degrees north of M-59 and the teens in Detroit, they will be in the single digits for much of the evening.
Wind chills will be -15 to -5 degrees. Besides enduring the arctic air, lake-effect snow showers will continue into Monday evening with the chance of a dusting.
On Monday night, it will be mostly cloudy with the chance of a few snow showers. Lows will be -5 to 0 degrees.
Wind chills will be -20 to -10 degrees on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Winds will be out of the west-southwest at 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
Tuesday
Brace for even colder weather on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s highs will only be in the single digits with a mix of sunshine and clouds. Daytime wind chills will be -20 to -10 degrees.
Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning will produce the coldest temperatures yet. Lows will be around 5 below zero (-5 degrees). Wind chills will plummet to -25 degrees in some Southeast Michigan communities.
These air temperatures are much lower than the average high and low of 32 and 18 degrees, respectively.
Metro Detroit’s record low for Tuesday, Jan. 21 is -21 degrees. Wednesday morning’s temperatures will be within a few degrees of the record low for Jan. 22, which is -10 degrees.
Wednesday
Temperatures will see some improvement as a warm front sweeps across Southeast Michigan on Wednesday.
After an extremely cold morning with wind chills as low as -25 degrees, wind chills will rise above 0 degrees in the afternoon. Given this forecast, the Cold Weather Advisory should be allowed to expire at noon.
Wednesday’s air temperatures will top out in the teens, and skies will be partly to mostly cloudy. There is a chance of light snow developing at night with lows around 10 degrees. Light accumulations is possible.
Thursday and Friday
Milder air will continue to flow into Southeast Michigan for the end of the week.
Thursday and Friday will see highs in the mid-20s and lows in the teens in Metro Detroit, but snow showers are possible for Thursday.
Weekend Forecast
It will be mostly cloudy with highs around 30 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. These temperatures will be Metro Detroit’s highest in a week.