This week, a strong cold front will travel through Michigan and the other Great Lakes states. The front may deliver a line of severe thunderstorms.
On Tuesday, record warmth will spread north into Michigan. The majority of Lower Michigan will experience afternoon temperatures that exceed 60 degrees. Even the Upper Peninsula will experience temperatures approaching 60 degrees.
The storm will proceed from the Plains to the Great Lakes region Tuesday evening and overnight. Temperatures will drop into the 20s and 30s on Wednesday, following a record high on Tuesday.
All of the ingredients in this storm system point to the possibility of a line of thunderstorms. For Michigan, it appears to be late Tuesday evening to early Wednesday morning. Flashes and booms could break our sleep on Tuesday night. Fortunately, thunderstorms in the middle of the night tend to subside.
The Storm Prediction Center has issued a 15 percent chance of scattered strong wind gusts and big hail across southern Michigan. Up to central Lower Michigan, there is a five percent probability of severe thunderstorms. Cold season thunderstorms are more likely to deliver huge, devastating hail. If your garage is open, park the pricey automobile there on Tuesday evening.
The orange-shaded area has the highest likelihood of severe thunderstorms. This encompasses Holland, Hastings, Charlotte, Hillsdale, and the southwestern part of Michigan. Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Lansing, Jackson, Ann Arbor, the entire Detroit area, Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City face a lower risk of severe thunderstorms.
Storms are expected to impact the southwest portion of Lower Michigan between 8 p.m. and midnight on Tuesday night. The storms would then move northeast into the rest of Lower Michigan overnight on Tuesday night.
These storms’ timing may vary. If the storms arrived earlier, such as in the late afternoon, the chances of severe thunderstorms would increase.
This is simply a heads-up that we may be in for some unusual weather in late February.
If you’re traveling, keep in mind that the severe weather threat stretches across most of Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. Severe storms would occur Tuesday afternoon, which is the most likely time of day for severe thunderstorms.