Powerful Storm to Lash the Great Lakes Late This Week and Is Our Infamous Polar Vortex Planning a Return Visit Late Next Week?

-Update 2/21/2014


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Powerful Storm to Lash The Great Lakes Thursday Into Friday

The meteorological stage will be set over the Mid West, Upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes states Thursday into Friday as the confrontation of the Arctic cold air mass to the north and warmer air mass from the deep south, clash over those regions. A deep and intensifying low pressure system will be spawned over the Southern Plains overnight and will be approaching the Great Lakes Thursday. The deep, intense low will move through the Great Lakes and Southeast Lower Michigan later Thursday and Thursday night, departing slowly on Friday.
 
This late week storm will be a noisy and possibly even a destructive beast as the clash of milder, somewhat unstable air- at least from what we've experienced in sometime- is rushed northward into the area Thursday...only to be rudely rushed out Thursday night by the colder air mass that has claimed the region for months now! While I don't expect classic severe weather over Southeast Lower Michigan as the stabilizing factor of the cold ground and heavy snow pack will keep any surface based convection at bay; I do expect strong winds and possibly a thunder (or thunder-less) squall-line Thursday late evening as the cold air mass surges toward Southeast Lower Michigan.

Weather Particulars;

Rain...some of it possibly freezing...and snow for a period early Thursday will change over to rain and move through the region as milder air surges into the area on warmer, brisk, southerly winds during the day. Temperatures should push  into the 40s over much of the region for a time Thursday and along with the expected rain; leave are region with localized ground and roadway flooding...a real sloppy mess as snow-melt adds to the problem.

As the low pressure and cold front approach late Thursday look for strong and gusty southerly winds to overspread the area as a squall of rain and scattered thunderstorms marches east across Southeast Lower Michigan during Thursday evening. Once the front moves through late Thursday night, strong and gusty west winds of 25 to 40 mph with gusts possibly into the 50s will blast Southeast Lower Michigan into Friday. Looks for temperatures to drop back off through the 30s and eventually 20s later on Friday.

Infamous Polar Vortex Planning For  Return Visit Late Next Week?

Early indications are our "buddy from the north" will make a return engagement - hopefully its last for the season (but you didn't hear it from me)- later next week. While temperatures will fall back to below normal, a large colder Arctic air mass will be building once again "land of the far north" only to be directed into much of the US later next week. While the extent of the cold and it's duration are still up for grabs, at this very early juncture it does look like a distinct possibly it will bring below zero readings once again...but again, it's much too early for the weather particulars on this.
 one; so updates will follow....

Making weather fun while we all learn,
Bill Deedler -SEMI_WeatherHistorian