A woman I know has a demanding career and three small kids she's raising along with her husband. They manage somehow to get things done around their older house too, but cold weather moved into metro Detroit near the end of October and has barely let up since, so she and her husband have a lot of things they had hoped to get to during a stretch of "warmer weather." Well, this story will have a happy ending for them, and for you too, if you can appreciate a warmer-than-average stretch with very little storminess.
High temperatures have mostly been no warmer than the 40s for most of the last month, since late October. We even tied a record low with 19 degrees on November 10, the first time we set or tied a record low all year here. November is actually tracking well below average through today's date.
But the ol' jet stream is making a move that will keep the really cold air locked up to our north for days. Tomorrow we'll be near 60 degrees, or about 20 above average for late November. We'll see mid-week cooling but should stay above our long-term average highs in the low 40s for the next 9 days or so. During this stretch, which looks like it will last through next Wednesday, December 6, we also should not get much rainfall and will likely see no accumulating snow at all.
As a result, in no particular order, here are some things you might want to do over the next 9 days in metro Detroit:
- Stroll between stores outside in your area during the 1st weekend of December without freezing
- Clean the gutters
- Put up holiday lights
- Cut the grass one last time and rake up the lingering leaves
- Shop for and/or harvest your Christmas tree
- Squeeze in a last outdoor painting job
- Take a hike somewhere you might not go over the winter
- Cover your patio furniture
- Take an especially long walk with your dog, or another friend not on a leash
- Trim tree branches that could fall over the winter
- Just get outside, take lots of deep breaths, and be thankful
But whatever you decide to do, keep in mind this milder spell will likely end abruptly. As of today, it looks like arctic air could pour into our area on or very close to Thursday, December 7. That date that lives in infamy for other reasons could also this year bring a return to a cold pattern. How long that lasts is unclear. But in the meantime, I hope your story can have a happy ending also.
