A potent cold front...the front edge of an Arctic air mass associated with a chunk of the polar vortex that is plunging south...is now crossing Lake Superior, and will cross our area during the afternoon. Aside from a few scattered showers possible north of M-59 (some won't even see one), the front itself will come through dry. In fact, many of us will see mostly sunny skies through the day.

However, with the front splitting the area this afternoon, there will be a big temperature gradient from south to north, with highs reaching the low to mid 60s (17 degrees Celsius) south, but only the mid 50s (12 to 13 degrees Celsius) north.

It will become windy as well, with light southwest winds to start the day shifting to the northwest behind the front, and increasing to 15 to 20 mph with higher gusts.

Today's sunrise is at 6:21 a.m., and today's sunset is at 8:40 p.m.

Increasing clouds Thursday night, with lows in the mid 30s (1 to 2 degrees Celsius), but closer to freezing in rural areas. Wind becoming north at 5 to 10 mph, and that northerly direction has prompted the National Weather Service to issued a Lakeshore Flood Advisory from 8:00 a.m. Friday until 5:00 a.m. Saturday for our Lake Huron shoreline areas.

Friday...well, there’s no beating around the bush...is going to be a nasty day by May standards. It will be mostly cloudy and breezy, with scattered snow showers, and highs only in the mid 40s (7 degrees Celsius). Yuck. Ack. Ugh.

Becoming partly cloudy Friday night, with a hard freeze likely as temperatures drop into the mid to upper 20s (-3 to -2 degrees Celsius).

Partly cloudy on Saturday, with highs only near 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius).

Partly cloudy Saturday night, with lows in the mid 30s (1 degree Celsius), but closer to or below freezing in rural areas.

Mother's Day appears to start dry, with showers developing sometime during the day. The computer models are still in great disagreement about this scenario. In fact, many of the models are completely opposite with the timing of the approaching storm system (a small, weak one) than what they showed yesterday. The jury is obviously still out on this system...stay tuned! Highs should reach the mid 50s (12 to 13 degrees Celsius), especially if we get any sun before the rain arrives.

So when will we come out of this deep freeze? After another cold day on Monday, we edge back into the mid to upper 50s (14 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, and then to 60 degrees (15 to 16 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday. After that, the long range pattern suggests a sustained period of temperatures much closer to average!