DETROIT – A prolonged (days-long) series or rain and snow starts this evening and tonight in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Drops and flakes fall together over the next twenty-four hours. Then it becomes colder Tuesday night and Wednesday for more snow than rain.

Frigid weather remains for the end of the week, including leap day, Saturday, and the weekend.

Sunset is at 6:17 p.m. ET.

Monday night

Monday evening will be cloudy and chilly with scattered rain and snow moving in from the south. Our South Zone (neighborhoods south of I-94) becomes wet first as temperatures drop from the 40s to the upper 30s when it becomes darker.

Monday night will have scattered rain and snow, and it will be colder. Overnight lows will be in the low 30s. Any snow accumulation will be light by this point and will be coupled with some melting.

That said, snow accumulations will be from a trace south of Detroit to an inch well north of Detroit. The Motor City may get a half inch or less of snow by daybreak, Tuesday.

Tuesday and Wednesday snow

Tuesday will have more scattered rain and snow. Streets and sidewalks will be more wet than snowy as the precipitation will be widely scattered with melting during the day. Highs will be near 40 degrees.

  • A Winter Storm Watch will be in effect for SE Michigan from Tuesday night until Wednesday night.

Colder air begins to take hold, Tuesday night and Wednesday. Snow will be falling from the sky more so than rain, and it becomes more persistent. Nighttime lows will be near freezing, and Wednesday afternoon temps will be int he mid 30s.

When all is said and done (by the end of Wednesday night) and with the snowiest period occurring sooner rather than later, there will be a wide variation of final snowfall totals.

South of 8 Mile, including the City of Detroit, 1 to 3 inches of new snow accumulation is possible.

North of 8 Mile and in Livingston and western Washtenaw county, 3 to 6 inches of new snowfall is possible.

Rest of the week

Sunshine slowly returns Thursday, Friday and leap day, Saturday. Daytime temps will be in the middle and upper 20s each day, and each nighttime low will be in the middle and upper teens. Wind chills will be near zero degrees frequently.

Sunday will be sunny with highs returning to the 30s; a bit more seasonable.

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