DTW poured quite a bit of cold water on the potential Wednesday, FWIW.
It wouldn't be a early season severe weather setup if it came easy...
000
FXUS63 KDTX 040812
AFDDTX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI
412 AM EDT Tue Apr 4 2023
.DISCUSSION...
On Wednesday, Southeast Michigan will be well positioned within a
strongly sheared warm sector as all indications are that surface
temperatures will reach the lower 70s and dewpoints rise into the
lower 60s. Environmental winds across the forecast area are
impressive with 55 knots down to roughly 3.0 kft agl which results
in long 0-1km and 0-2km hodograph lengths. There are a number of
items worth discussing that could have significant impacts on what
occurs. The first item is that forecast soundings from multiple
solutions favor subsidence between 3.5-7.5 kft agl. This checks out
as Southeast Michigan is unfavorably situated to the upper level jet
axis and absolute vorticity fields strongly show a period of
anticyclonic vorticity advection during the afternoon. It is the
subsidence and resultant capping inversion that maintains a narrow
CAPE profile and limits coverage of shower and thunderstorms during
the afternoon. In fact, the 00Z NAM solution is suggesting little to
no mixed layer CAPE for Metro Detroit and virtually all of the cwa
after 19Z. The second item of discussion is the upstream
convection/convective remnants that are shown by some model data to
stream out of MO Bootheel region through the far southern forecast
area after 12Z. This subset of model solutions then becomes somewhat
persistent with continued activity over or just east of the cwa as
differential heating/rain cooled air mass likely augments the model
convergence fields. This activity does also appear to be tied to the
anticyclonic shear side off of the low level jet. So there is a
considerable amount of uncertainty as to both the coverage of
thunderstorm activity and what area will see the greatest severe
weather threat. The best message at this vantage point centers on a
conditionality of the severe threat. Given the strongly sheared
profile, i.e. 0-3km SRH of 350-450 m2/s2 any deep
convection/thunderstorms that become rooted within the 0-2km layer
will have the potential to be of supercell mode and pose the threat
for significant severe weather. This includes both a strong tornado
threat and large hail of golfball or larger. Will state it again,
however, the development of deep thunderstorm activity very well
remains in question. So the message is one that the environment
tomorrow will be supportive of significant severe weather. Given the
current model consensus, it appears the greatest severe threat may
be early in the prefrontal environment between 16-20Z. Additionally,
the northern cwa could possibly see the greatest severe threat as
steep midlevel lapse rates/pseudo elevated mixed layer holds on
there the longest. Latest day2 has all of Southeast Michigan in an
enhanced risk for severe weather. Monitor future forecasts for
refinement to the messaging.