The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says colder-than-normal temperatures will continue in Michigan through mid-January, at least. That's as far as their models can reliably predict. Long-range models suggest temperatures might return to normal toward the end of the month, but those predictions are not very accurate. That's according to Richard Otto, a meteorologist with NOAA's weather prediction center in College Park, Maryland.
Temperatures dipped below zero across much of the state this week, breaking records in some places. Thursday morning, the temperature at Detroit Metro airport was 0 degrees F, -7 in Lansing, and -16 in Ann Arbor.
The reason for the unusually cold temperatures is a weather pattern that is bringing colder air down from Canada. The pattern is currently affecting much of the Eastern United States, and it's not going anywhere, according to Otto, "The reason it's cold is basically just the way the weather pattern is set up. The low is from the north. It's allowing all the cold air to come down from Canada to the U.S., and until that changes, it's going to be more of the same."
