Metro Detroit weather forecast, July 20, 2026 -- 12 p.m. Update

[00:00:01]Well, here we go again. A little bit more of that wildfire smoke we're contending with, but the good news is it's not nearly as bad as what we had last Thursday and Friday. And to put it in comparison, I think today very similar to yesterday where you'll notice the haze. You probably don't smell the smoke as much, but for those that are more sensitive to that fine particulate matter, you'll likely still notice a difference in our air quality as it is unhealthy for sensitive groups. We're downwind from the wildfires that are just to the northwest, and so that does still pump in some of the plumes of smoke. It's just not as concentrated as what we had for the later part of last week. So, unhealthy for sensitive groups is what we're looking at for today. 82 for the afternoon high under some smoky skies, and so it's filtered sunshine.

[00:00:43]But, we'll have some increasing clouds as the afternoon rolls on because that's ahead of our next weather maker. So, that smoke forecast through the afternoon, you see how some of that more highly concentrated smoke retreats to the northeast. Very thin concentration as we head in the overnight. I do think the rain helps a bit with that because we have a marginal risk of some of the rain showers turning into stronger severe storms. So, we're on that level one on a five-level scale for the overnight. Now, the main time frame is about midnight to 8:00 a.m., but if you really want a tighter window, I'm going to say closer to 4:00 a.m. is when we see more of those storms potentially firing off across the metro area. Now, all modes of severe weather remain on the table, but I would say damaging wind gusts up to about 65 mph are the primary threat. And maybe some ponding and pooling with some downpours that are localized, but small hail and rotation simply can't be ruled out. So, let's map it out and time it all out for you.

[00:01:32]Clouds increase today. You might get a little spritzer sprinkle later on this evening, but 4:00 a.m. is when we start to see a few pockets of storms developing and some light rain also rolling through where the downpours aren't quite as significant. But, by 5:00 or 6:00, that's where we still have some of those storms. So, if your alarm goes off after 6:00 or 7:00 a.m., these storms could be waking you up. And make sure you get modes of severe weather communication while you're sleeping. So, don't have that phone on silent. Then, by 10:00 a.m., I think we still could have some remaining rain along and south of I-94. But, to our north, we dry out quicker, and then the rest of us drying out through the afternoon for the most part. We're also watching the tropics.

[00:02:09]And so, as we take a closer look down to the south, we're expected to be following this tropical system that's going to impact the Gulf Coast over the next couple of days. So, it looks like it's going to be brushing right across Alabama and Mississippi's coast by midweek, but definitely impacting Louisiana by I would say Wednesday night into Thursday before it continues to track towards Houston as we get into early Friday. So, that's going to be a heavy rain maker, and just note if you have travel plans to go down south this week, that that's going to be impacting the weather along the Gulf Coast.

[00:02:39]Bringing it back here close to home, that cold front that we're contending with that could potentially bring us some stronger storms come tonight into tomorrow morning, that drops our temperature significantly. A 10° drop as we head into Wednesday. Now, if we can keep the smoke out of here, check out these overnight lows falling in the 50s where you can open up the windows finally and give the AC a break, but we'll start to gradually climb out of that little cold snap. We'll be close to 80 on Thursday with sunshine, and then back to more seasonal 80s for the upcoming weekend. That's your 7-day forecast.