DETROIT (WWJ) – A major warm up is on the way for Metro Detroit, but first, residents must navigate through snow, sleet and freezing rain plaguing freeways around the area on Tuesday.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for Livingston, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Wayne, Lenawee and Monroe counties until 4 p.m. Tuesday as mixed precipitation continues to fall.
The National Weather Service in Detroit said snow accumulations could reach up to 3 inches and with ice accumulations up to two tenths of an inch — and it couldn’t come at a worse time as drivers prepare to head out for their morning commute.
According to AccuWeather, ice that builds up to 0.25 of an inch or greater is heavy enough to weigh trees down, causing them to break and trigger power outages .
WWJ’s AccuWeather meteorologist Dean DeVore said drivers should be extra suspicious of wet roadways as black ice — not puddles — could be lurking.
“We have that unique situation because of the entirety of our area being under the deep freeze for the better part of a week and a half that we are seeing freezing rain developing,” DeVore explained. “Even with the air temperature, remember the air temperature is recorded about 3 to 4 feet off the ground, but that surface… it’s falling on to, if it’s untreated, still could be a lot colder than that and creating freezing rain, even though the air temperature is above freezing.”