Forecast: Nice looking Friday, but rain chances return Saturday

DETROIT – Mostly clear tonight and quite chilly by August standards, with most areas falling into the mid to upper 40s.

Our official record low for Friday morning is 46 degrees, set in 1979, so we'll be close! Northwest wind at 4 to 8 mph.

After most areas start Friday in the 40s, abundant sunshine will quickly warm our temperatures into the upper 60s by lunchtime, and to a high in the mid 70s. Northwest wind becoming west at 5 to 10 mph.

Mostly clear to partly cloudy Friday night, with lows in the mid 50s.

Partly cloudy in the morning, then increasing clouds. Shower and thunderstorm chances ramp up during the afternoon, with areas north of I-69 possibly seeing rain by early afternoon, and the heart of the metro area likely not seeing rain until late afternoon. With a bit of luck, some of us may salvage most of the daytime hours on Saturday for outdoor activities. Highs in the upper 70s.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible Saturday night, with lows in the mid 60s.

Right now, it would appear that areas south of 8 Mile have a shower and thunderstorm risk on Sunday, while areas north of 8 Mile may just barely squeak by with a dry day. Highs in the mid to upper 70s.

Partly cloudy Sunday night, with lows in the low 60s.

Monday begins a stretch of very difficult forecasting, as we'll be dealing with very weak upper level disturbances crossing the Great Lakes, and the computer models are notoriously poor at handling these weak system more than a day or two in advance. As you'll see in the forecast for the week ahead, I have a chance of rain each day.

However, it will not rain all day every day and, in fact, we could even end up with a dry day or two if a particular disturbance crosses our area at night. As much as I would like to be more specific, it would be dishonest and a disservice to you if I tried -- there is just way too much uncertainty, and I will always be up front with you about my confidence in the forecast.

So, here's the forecast for Monday through Thursday: partly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s, and lows at night in the low 60s.

Reminder: Don't forget to download our free Local4Casters weather app, which has a great radar display that lets you zoom in or widen out the view to whatever you want it to be. Keep track of approaching rain on your mobile device -- it's easy and, again, it's free! Just search for WDIV in the app store.