It'll probably snow this Christmas in Detroit after all

For those who coo at the thought of waking up on Christmas Day to the sight of snow, rejoice: According to the National Weather Service, metro Detroit can expect a 1-2 inch dusting on Thursday.

Thanks to warmer temps, the forecast tonight calls for rain that's expected to continue through Wednesday night, says Matt Mosteiko, meteorologist at the National Weather Service outpost in White Late Township. On Christmas Day, there's a 40-50 percent chance Detroiters will travel to movie theaters to see Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler with a light snow on the ground. 

With temperatures in the mid-40s, in some areas potentially as high as 50 degrees, Mosteiko says about a half inch of rain is expected to fall by Wednesday.

Temps will cool off once the weather system begins to pass through, he says, with a mix of rain and snow expected from 6 p.m.-midnight on Christmas Eve. From that point on, it should be a day of snow. 

"What we're looking at [shows] at least one inch of snow on the ground," Mosteiko says. "That would classify as a white Christmas." 

Mosteiko says the high temperature on Christmas Day will reach close to 40, with a low around freezing. Wind gusts could also reach as high as 35 miles-per-hour, he says.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be too windy, as to a wind advisory," he says, "but it's not out of the question." 

Temperatures are expected to rise to around 40 over the weekend, before dropping back down to the freezing mark by the end of the week. "It does get back to normal after Saturday," Mosteiko says.