Rainy Thursday morning. Freezing rain in Mecosta, Newaygo counties. Strong to severe storms Thursday evening. Keith tracks rain and storms at 5!

Wednesday Afternoon: Cloudy, much colder, and a bit breezy. Lower to middle 40s. ENE 10-20 mph

Wednesday Night: Cloudy, and a bit breezy with rain and non-severe thunderstorms arriving after midnight from southwest to northeast. Freezing rain develops northeast of Grand Rapids toward sunrise. Upper 30s. E 10-20 mph.

Thursday: Morning showers and non-severe thunderstorms followed by a late morning through mid-afternoon dry slot. Clouds may break for partial sun, much warmer, and windy with strong to severe thunderstorms containing damaging winds developing near or after dinnertime. Trending somewhat humid, and windy. Upper 60s. SE-S 15-30 mph with higher gusts likely.

Thursday Night: Thunderstorms with damaging winds through midnight or shortly thereafter with lingering showers tapering off overnight. Mild, trending less humid by daybreak, and windy. Lower to middle 50s. S-SW 15-30 mph.

Friday: Trending mostly cloudy to partly sunny, mild, and breezy. Lower 60s. SW-N 15-25 mph.

Saturday: Numerous showers and thunderstorms, humid, and windy. A few stronger storms are possible in the afternoon or evening. Upper 60s. S-SW 15-30 mph with higher gusts.

Easter: Mostly cloudy, much colder, and windy. Middle 40s. W-NW 15-30 mph.

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WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY Newaygo, Mecosta counties 2 a.m. Thursday {>} 10 a.m. Thursday

Good afternoon! Clouds are dialed in and will be for the entirety of the day with very little movement to our temperatures currently hovering around 42-43 degrees. Rain returns tonight, a few hours after midnight, and non-severe thunderstorms are likely into your Thursday morning commute. Rain falls as freezing rain northeast of Grand Rapids, and Winter Weather Advisories were just issued for Newaygo, Mecosta counties. Rain and storms launch northward to I-96 by mid-morning leaving a dry slot to take over from late morning through mid-afternoon.

After that, we're watching a setup for possibe severe storms from dinnertime Thursday into late Thursday night. We are under a 15% risk of damaging wind gusts, courtesy of the Storm Prediction Center, but we're also under a 5% risk of a tornado. That's a rather high risk level for West Michigan and the Mitten. The culprits are strong winds aloft, 70 mph or greater, an incoming front, and very discernible rotation in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. The concern is a line of storms or lines of storms sweeping across the area, and a tornado or two could be embedded within the line. Humidity levels surge late tomorrow and tomorrow evening aiding in our motivation for upward vertical motion. We'll keep watching it.

Any leftover showers exit before you wake up leaving a pretty good looking Friday with highs in the middle 60s, lowering humidity levels, and a couple of breaks of sun. The next system is quickly on its heels for late Friday night into Saturday. The motivation for severe weather this time isn't nearly as great although a few strong storms are certainly possible. Rounds of rain and non-severe storms are a good bet through late Saturday night. There will be another palpable increase in humidity, which won't lessen until Easter Sunday. Speaking of Easter, it will function very similar to today with highs in the 40s and gusty winds. Next week starts rather chilly with no real signs of a big warm-up until maybe the middle of April. Welcome to April!

Have a smooth afternoon! Keep Keith company at 5!

~Meteorologist Jeff Porter