One cool thing this upcoming warmup will do for Michigan

For most of next week, we will have a warmer than normal weather pattern in Michigan. This warm-up will come with an added bonus.

November is when our cloudy season kicks into high gear. We usually only get about four days more sun than clouds in November, and that’s pretty much statewide.

There is a typical weather scenario that makes Michigan skies very cloudy in November. First, we are in the heart of the storm’s path as it moves south from Canada during this transition from summer to winter. We get clouds one day before the storm. During the day of the storm, it is also obviously cloudy. After the storm passes, it gets colder, and we get a day or even two days of lake-effect clouds. That’s four straight days of clouds. Finally, we may get a somewhat sunny day before the next storm system brings us pre-storm clouds – and the cycle begins all over again.

This means four days of clouds, one sunny day and then back to four days of clouds.

Next week, we have an abnormal pattern for November, and in a good way if you want some sun. In the next seven days we may have four days of sunshine.

Why will we get so much sunshine? The storm track will calm just a touch over the next week. Instead of two storm systems fully rolling through Michigan next week, we will only have one storm system late next week. At the same time, temperatures will rise into the 50s and perhaps a few days topping 60 degrees. This warm air kills the lake-effect cloud machine.

Below is a model forecast for total cloud cover next week. When you see dark color it means clear skies and sunshine. This is a total cloud cover forecast, so we sometimes appear covered in white clouds. At some of these times the sun’s rays can even be filtered through high clouds.

Here’s the temperature deviation from normal forecast for this weekend and into next week. Note that warmer than normal temperatures are moving into much of the northern United States, including Michigan.

This warmer air on the ground and above will turn off the lake-effect drag machine over the Great Lakes.

Now this won’t be a completely sunny period from today until next Thursday. I’d say we’ll have three mostly sunny days and two semi-sunny days next week. Even with weather conditions that make the sun shine, it’s still difficult to get a perfectly clear day in November.

Get ready to enjoy and appreciate the fact that we’ll be getting a nice break from the usual gray November pattern. Many days next week will be good days to get your final outdoor projects done before winter arrives. We’ll have to check if Mariah Carey says it’s the Christmas season, but I’d say it’s a good week to put up your outdoor Christmas lights.