Detroit could receive its first snowflakes of the season this week. But even though temperatures will drop to create that possibility, the region is not yet expected to experience its first frost of the season. This is notable because whenever the first frost arrives, it will be the latest to be documented in 150 years on the Detroit area’s official record site.

The record is currently from Nov. 15, said Trent Frey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake. This was hit in 1915 and 1946.

This year, most areas of southeast Michigan have already frozen – reaching 32 degrees Fahrenheit or colder – but the Detroit Metropolitan Airport check-in site Romulus did not, Frey said. Neither does Detroit City Airport.

“We can’t attribute it to anything, but it’s a fact that our seasons are getting warmer…so it could be a product of climate change,” Frey said of the first frost record. “It’s certainly not something we’ve seen in our 150-plus year span.” …So it’s certainly not common that we don’t experience freezing temperatures this far into the year.

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Detroit Metropolitan Airport is the region’s official record site, but this official location has changed over the 150-year record period. Official data was taken from various sites in downtown Detroit until 1934, then Detroit City Airport, then Detroit Metropolitan Airport starting in 1966, Frey said. The trips aim to take into account the urban heat island effect in the city and to ensure that the information is most representative of the area.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to 50s Monday with mostly sunny skies before a chance of rain appears in the evening, Frey said. Tuesday is expected to be a rainy day in metro Detroit, but temperatures will remain pretty similar through Thursday.

Thursday and Friday could bring those snowflakes, with the most likely day being Thursday, Frey said. He noted, however, that there were some moving parts.

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Temperatures are currently expected to drop Thursday and Friday, with highs in the 40s and lows in the mid-30s.

“It will definitely be a shock to some people,” Frey said, confirming that it might be time to bring out heavier coats and jackets.

Depending on where the cold air and low-pressure systems arrive, precipitation could be snow or rain, Frey said. No accumulation is expected if there is snow.

Currently, high temperatures for the weekend are expected to be in the 40s, with temperatures in the upper 40s next week and overall a chance for milder temperatures again. That can happen this time of year, Frey noted.

But for later this week, he said: “This will be kind of our first taste of the end of fall – the real end of fall – because we’ve been pretty mild lately.” »

This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Detroit set to break weather record for last first frost