A weather pattern change to colder weather was forecasted a few weeks ago for the later part of January. It appears that long range forecast is going to be right on time. Here’s a look at when the cold hits the Great Lakes region.

The extended forecasts for six to 10 days out and eight to 14 days out are finally trending toward colder than average temperatures.

Temperature forecast for late this week shows the period averaging around normal to colder than normal.

Each round of cold looks a little colder than the previous cold blast. Of course that is a common situation as we head into the heart of winter. The next forecast eight to 14 days out shows a higher chance of colder than normal temperatures.

While it's not a very high chance of colder than average temperatures, this is the coldest long-range forecast we've had in quite some time.

The National Weather Service now issues a three to four week forecast. The forecaster continues to feel northwesterly flow will dominate that period.

The three to four week forecast shows a strong chance of colder than average temperatures for the last week of January and the first nine days of February.

I don’t think will be any sort of “historic” cold snap. It will just be a rather typical cold spell for late January. In fact there are even signs that several days in a few week cold snap will have temperatures near 30 degrees. To put the cold into exact numbers for you, just below is the forecast high temperature for next Saturday.

High temperatures are expected to be very cold by next weekend. Temperatures could stay in the single digits and teens across Michigan.

With colder air can come snow. In this case, the next storm looks sizable and next weekend. But the storm also looks like it could miss Michigan to the south again, much like the current snowstorm. That’s a typical storm track also, as cold air gets entrenched over Michigan. The cold air in place shoves the storm systems south of Michigan.

Get ready to really feel like winter is here finally, but don’t get concerned yet about some sort of extreme cold outbreak.