Do you have big plans for the weekend? Mother Nature does. It will start out innocent enough with some sunshine and light winds. We will have above average highs and some areas may even see 40 degrees, however, all of those pleasantries will be short lived.
SATURDAY:
The day will start out OK with a little sun early in the morning and temps warming quickly. The morning will be dry as clouds increase. In the afternoon, rain moves in with increasing likelihood and coverage. Around 6 p.m. is the first chance that you may hear some thunder. That won't mean nasty or dangerous storms, but the rain could get heavy in some of these storms. Any way you cut it, thunderstorms in February are a bit odd. The greatest threat for severe storms will stay well south of us and be focused around Memphis. The storm chance will last through the evening into the overnight in front of a strong cold front. That cold front will bring in major changes in temperature, precipitation type and wind for Sunday.
SUNDAY:
Instead of going up all day like on Saturday, the temperatures will be dropping all day behind the cold front from Saturday night. Temps will start in the low to mid 40s early in the morning and end up in the mid 30s by evening. This will allow the rain showers at the start of the day to change over to now showers by early afternoon. Those snowflakes won't be just settling down on to your driveway either. As the storm moves past us, our wind will increase all day. The strongest winds will reach gusts of 45 mph to 50 mph from the mid afternoon hours through the evening. The strongest wind areas will be north of M-59 during that time, but all areas will be very windy. Of all the different weather happening this weekend, I think the wind will be what you are talking about most come Monday morning.
Power outages are certainly possible Sunday from the strong winds. There won't be a big icing concern for power lines or tree branches, but the shear strength and duration of the winds will make the loss of power possible all around Southeast Michigan.
