There’s some red on the temperature maps in Michigan’s future, and the warm-up has legs

Our weather pattern looks like it’s about to turn warmer than normal. This warmer than normal stretch could last a couple of weeks.

Don’t get too excited either way on the warm temperatures. Half of Michiganders figure it’s winter so let’s have some snow and cold. The other half of Michiganders hope and pray we don’t have a snowflake all winter.

When I’m talking about warmer than normal temperatures, it still means high temperatures only in the 30s and 40s.

The best way I have to show you the gradual but extensive warm-up is a 16 day forecast of surface temperature anomalies. Notice the colder than normal air moving away in spurts and warmer air tracking in.

Surface temperature anomaly forecast from Tuesday, November 28 to Tuesday, December 12, 2023NOAA

Once we go to warmer than normal air around December 5 we stay that way consistently through December 12. At the end of forecast we have no sign of colder air coming. The temperature anomaly forecast above generally is showing temperatures between five degrees and 10 degrees warmer than normal. Average high temperatures on December 12 are 35 degrees in the south to 32 degrees in the north. So the forecast indicates some afternoons of 40 degrees to 45 degrees in the first half of December.

The National Weather Service believes in the strength and duration in the warm-up too.

Temperature forecast from December 3 to December 7NOAA

Temperature forecast from December 5 to December 11NOAA

Even the three to four week temperature forecast calls for continued above normal temperatures into the third week of December.

Temperature forecast from December 9 to December 22NOAA

You might still have a few weeks to accomplish something outside. Plan on outside-work temperatures at least in the afternoons starting Thursday with maybe a break back to a chill for Friday and Saturday. Then we should get into a consistent mild weather pattern.