Warm up to follow Monday's wintry blast

After a wintry blast that dumped up to 3 inches of snow locally delayed flights and slowed travel Monday, Metro Detroit residents can expect clearer conditions the next few days.

It's also going to get colder before it warms up, according to the National Weather Service.

On Monday, 9.8 inches of snow fell in Shiawassee; 8 in Sanilac; and 5.5 in Lapeer. Locally, Eastpointe and Romulus saw 3 inches and White Lake Township recorded 2.5 inches,  the weather service reported.

Tuesday is expected to be mostly sunny but cold with a high of 26 degrees and a low of 20 degrees. Temperatures will be about five degrees below normal for January, which is about 32 degrees, the agency said. 

Then, “we’ll be on a slightly warming trend the remainder of the week,” said  Alex Manion, a National Weather Service meteorologist at its White Lake Township office.

The mercury could climb near 40, about 10 degrees above average, on Wednesday.
It's also expected to be windy. The weather service is predicting gusts of up to 30-35 mph into the early afternoon.

On Thursday, the mercury will fall into the mid-30s, the weather service predicts.

A cool-down is forecast for Friday, with temperatures in the 20s under partly sunny skies.

The next chance for light snow comes Saturday, but the shift from cold to warm then back to freezing is “fairly typical” this time of year, Manion said.

Monday meant a wintry reminder for Metro Detroiters.

As the snow piled up, more than 530 flights were delayed coming in and out of Detroit Metro Airport on Monday, according to flightaware.com.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Transportation reported crashes on freeways.

“Although plow trucks are continuously removing snow, road conditions can quickly change for the worse in this type of weather,” said Capt. Chris A. Kelenske, deputy state director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and commander of the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.

“If you must travel, give yourself plenty of time and take it slow on the ice and snow.”