Metro Detroit to find cold blast under the tree on Christmas

Santa will leave a cold snap in Metro Detroit's Christmas stocking, the National Weather Service said.

"It'll be the mid-20s for the high on Christmas," National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Klein said. "Christmas night, the temps will be in the mid-teens."

The agency's forecast calls for temperatures in Detroit to reach a high of 40 degrees Tuesday and nearly 50 degrees Wednesday before diving to 24 degrees Friday, Christmas Day. After that, temperatures will rebound slightly by the weekend.

"There's going to be a system crossing the upper plains and Midwest, which will lift a warm front over the area late Wednesday, bringing warmer air," Klein said. "It will be breezy and then there'll be some rain Wednesday night."

Detroit's average monthly high temperature in December is 36 degrees and its average monthly low is 24 degrees, according to weather service records.

On Thursday, a cold front will move in during the day, resulting in snow showers, Klein said.

Since Dec. 1, the area has seen less than an inch of precipitation, the weather service said. Normally, Detroit receives about 1.69 inches of precipitation this time of the year. 

"The question mark is whether it will transition into all snow or if the front will be too far behind to where the rain will stop and it will just be cold," Klein said. "If it does turn into all snow, totals aren't looking super high. We might see up to an inch, but it will probably be less than that."

There's a chance of Thursday's snow showers to repeat on Friday, according to the agency.

Extended forecast

Wednesday: Partly sunny; high 53, low 33.

Thursday: Cloudy; high 35, low 16.

Friday: Mostly cloudy; high 24, low 17.

Saturday: Mostly sunny; high 32, low 22.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy; high 36, low 27.

Monday: Mostly cloudy; high 35.

Source: National Weather Service

cramirez@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CharlesERamirez