Very active weather pattern for Michigan over next week, but more snow?

When we look at the storm track over the next week or so there are a lot of storm systems lined up across the U.S. and Pacific Ocean. Most of these storm systems are going to roll through the Great Lakes region and Michigan. Will they bring rain or snow? Let’s take a look.

Firstly you should know that when there are a lot of storms lined up closely together, they all can’t be big storm systems. The storm track this coming week will have batches of precipitation every two days. For storm systems to be big and strong there has to be a five to seven day spacing between the storms.

Here’s just a nice easy look at what I like to call a “parade of storm systems” stretched across the Pacific Ocean. It may seem like the farthest storm is a long ways off in time. The last storm on the screen will actually be here by next weekend.

Here’s the upper-air flow at 15,000 feet. This is the level we use to easily see the storm track. Every “U” shaped bend in the flow is a weather-maker. Look how many and how often the bends in the upper-air flow are coming through over the next 10 days.

When we look at the upper-air forecast out through next week it’s a somewhat warmer flow. This means it’s not an all-out winter pattern.

What does this mean here at the ground?

A precipitation event is likely Saturday night/Sunday, again Tuesday, Wednesday and the following weekend. Saturday night’s precipitation looks to be mostly rain for most of us, but with a mixture of snow and light freezing rain at the start. Tuesday looks like rain, not snow. There may be snow for some Wednesday. Next weekend’s weather system looks more like a winter system.

The point I want to make is the dry, no storm pattern that got us into drought this fall has probably ended. The active storm track is coming just in time for winter. This means you will have to follow the forecast closely if you are concerned about winter travels.