(WWJ) - While a sprinkle of rain will damp areas in Southeast Michigan Thursday night, weather experts said it won't be enough to help as 2022 goes down as the one of Michigan's driest years on record.
The National Weather Service said the Detroit area is 8 inches short of rainfall for the period running from Jan. 1 to Oct. 5.
"Abnormally Dry to Moderate Drought conditions have expanded to cover all of SE Michigan with this week's U.S. Drought Monitor update," meteorologists said. "Rainfall with the cold front this evening (mainly 0.25" or less) will not help much."
Flint is reported at five inches below normal while Saginaw is in a deficit for almost three inches.
According to weather experts, September went on record as the 15th driest ever in Metro Detroit -- forecasters say the area received just under an inch of rain.
The NWS said a cold front will sweep through the area, bringing gusty winds along with a sprinkle of rain, but hardly enough to help even out the deficit.
The high temperature is forecasted to hit the low to mid 70s.
The cold front will drop temperatures from there, as highs are only forecasted to get into the upper 40s to lower 50s on Friday.
The rainfall totals for 2022 come as a sharp contrast to numbers recorded last year.
The summer of 2021 was one of the most active summers in terms of severe weather in Metro Detroit, with major thunderstorms and flooding events causing big problems for many communities.
Detroit and Dearborn Heights both experienced historic flooding when a massive rain storm moved over the area on June 25-26th, 2021.
Meteorologists said 40.1 inches of rain fell last year, but only 19.39 inches has been recorded in 2022 so far.
