(WWJ) – Detroit may have recorded the wettest start to the new year last month , but the area is falling increasingly short when it comes to snow — now it looks like residents in the northern suburbs may finally get some accumulation on Thursday.
AccuWeather meteorologists say an Alberta Clipper — a fast moving low pressure system that originations in Alberta, Canada and into the Midwest — is expected to streak across Michigan, bringing with it widespread precipitation to Southeast Michigan between 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.
A wintry mix with brief light freezing rain is possible for the immediate Metro Detroit area and southward with just enough snow — a trace to an inch — to make morning travel conditions slightly slushy, AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Lundberg said.
AccuWeather predicted 3 to 6 inches of heavier snow is possible along and north of I-69, striking the northern most tips of Oakland and Macomb Counties and up into Genesee, Lapeer and St. Clair Counties.
Temperatures are expected to start out below freezing as precipitation begins to fall, the Detroit office for the National Weather Service forecasted, but a warm up will bring temps into the low 40s across Metro Detroit, causing any snow to transition into rain.