It's The First Official Day Of Winter: Cold Enough For Ya?

DETROIT (WWJ) - Wednesday, Dec. 21 is the first official day of winter. But if you ask anyone in metro Detroit, we've been in the thick of it for weeks.

Today is also the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, which means we can only go up from here. The days will now gradually get longer until the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, on June 21.

Forecasters say temperatures on Wednesday will tap out around 30 degrees, which is nearly the same as yesterday's weather. The wind chill also isn't very strong, so it will only feel about five degrees cooler. That's a drastic change from the weather we experienced last week, when wind chills made temperatures feel dangerously low into the negative digits.

But after a sunny Thursday with temperatures around 35 degrees, clouds will move in on Friday, bringing with them a wintry mix of snow and ice. Accumulations around one inch are expected across the region by Saturday morning.

Conditions will remain relatively quiet on Christmas Eve with temps nearly steady through the day in the mid 30s and hardly a cloud in the night sky -- perfect flying weather for Santa and his reindeer.

Unfortunately, the weather will be a little gloomy on Christmas Day. Forecasters say clouds will fill the sky and as the evening rolls around, the chance of rain rises to 80 percent. That rain will continue overnight, leading to a very soggy day on Monday, with possible thunder showers. The silver lining here is that temperatures will be around 50 degrees on Monday. Heat wave!

By this time next week, forecasters say temps will return to the 30s and we could even be looking at more snow.

Here's the local forecast from the CBS Detroit weather team:

Wednesday -- Cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 30F. Low 28F.

Thursday -- Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High near 35F. Low 21F.

Friday -- Increasingly cloudy through the day; A wintry mix in the evening will transition to mainly snow overnight. High 32F. Low 31F.

Saturday -- Cloudy skies. High near 35F. Low around 25F.

Christmas Sunday -- Overcast. Rain in the evening, then remaining cloudy with showers late. High 36F. Low 35F.

Monday -- Rain showers in the morning becoming a steady light rain in the afternoon. High 51F. Low around 30F.

Know before you go: Keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for the latest forecast during traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s. See the live, local radar now at this link.