textproduct: Gaylord

KEY MESSAGES

- Brief period of patchy freezing drizzle or light snow late this afternoon and early this evening, with some slick spots possible. - Below normal temperatures and scattered snow showers Friday and Saturday.

- Much milder weather heading into next week; active and wet pattern possible for the second half of next week

DISCUSSION

Issued at 207 PM EDT Thu Mar 26 2026

Near term...Post frontal precipitation ending as a brief period of light snow or patchy freezing drizzle in parts of northern lower early this evening. With temperatures dropping below freezing, any residual water from the daytime rain will quickly freeze. Some slick spots on roads will be possible. A weak lake response overnight with north/northeast flow, resulting in a few snow showers or flurries (mainly closer to Lake Michigan coastline).

Pattern discussion...An expansive and anomalously strong high pressure heat dome anchored over the southwest CONUS, with an active Pacific jet across the northern tier of the country. A quick hitting shot of below normal temperatures for the Great Lakes through Saturday as high pressure builds south out of western Canada. A few weaker upper level waves will slide across the northern lakes later Friday into Saturday within a moisture starved environment, although with some steeper mid level lapse rates. Enough overlake instability for a weak lake response as well. Expect an uptick in snow showers Friday night. Minor accumulations will be possible. The bigger story for most people during this time will be the very cold overnight lows, with some locations dipping into the single digits.

Much milder weather works into the Great Lakes to end the weekend heading into Monday as high pressure slides east and a warmer return flow begins. Highs in the 50s and possibly even some 60s by Monday (cooler eastern upper with readings mainly in the 40s). We begin to see the makings for a possible larger scale longwave pattern shift developing next week as lower heights and storminess move into the Pacific northwest (hopefully bringing some much needed moisture to the western CONUS). As this pattern change takes shape, we will see a more active (and wetter) pattern developing over the Great Lakes as energy ejects out of the western trough. With a still large reservoir of cold air sitting across Canada, there is always the potential for some precipitation type mischief in northern Michigan (especially northern parts of our area) with any of these storm systems, which could potentially be the case at some point next week. Still plenty of model spread in various solutions, so just something to keep in mind with a more active pattern developing next week.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 105 PM EDT Thu Mar 26 2026

Band of IFR producing low clouds and attendant light rain/mist will continue to spread across the area to kick off this taf period. Gradual improvement expected from northwest to southeast this evening, with current trends supporting a return to VFR conditions overnight as clouds scatter out. VFR conditions expected to continue into through Friday morning. North winds become gusty later this afternoon into this evening, with winds decreasing later tonight into Friday morning.

APX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 2 PM EDT Friday for LHZ348-349. Small Craft Advisory from 5 PM this afternoon to 6 AM EDT Friday for LMZ323-341-342-344>346.