IRON MOUNTAIN — Heavy rain and even a thunderstorm are in today’s forecast for the Dickinson County area, but cooler weather and snowfall could return next week.

Rainfall of a half-inch or more is possible through Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The snowpack could see a rapid decline as high temperatures are expected to remain above 40 before climbing into the mid-50s Sunday and Monday. There is a chance of rain and snow both Tuesday and Wednesday, with highs falling to near 40 on Wednesday. AccuWeather predicts cooler weather at the end of the week, with intermittent snow.

In the central U.S., hail, damaging winds and tornado threats could enter the picture today.

“The primary setup will involve a surge of warm, humid air from the Gulf colliding with cooler air arriving from the Pacific and southern Canada, along with strong winds high in the atmosphere,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. “Storm systems and fronts moving through this corridor will serve as the focus for severe thunderstorms.”

The long-range outlook for the Upper Peninsula favors a wet and possibly cool spring. The Climate Prediction Center sees a roughly 45% chance of above-average precipitation through May and a 20% chance of below average. For temperatures, the odds are 37% below average and 29% above average.

“The March-April-May precipitation outlook features increased chances of above-normal precipitation from the Great Lakes southward to the Ohio Valley and areas of the adjacent Mississippi Valley, generally consistent with a La Nina signature,” NWS forecaster Scott Handel said.

La Nina, characterized by cooler-than-normal ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, is sometimes linked to cooler and wetter conditions in the Great Lakes region. As La Nina wanes, the elevated chances of above-average precipitation over the Great Lakes is removed entirely by May-June-July, Handel said.

Although below-normal temperatures are slightly favored through May in the U.P., above-normal temperatures are favored for the entire continental U.S. by June-July-August, the climate model shows.

Other than abnormally dry conditions in the southern fringes of Dickinson and Menominee counties, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows no areas of U.P. concern. Across the border in Wisconsin, Florence County is abnormally dry and there is moderate drought in much of Forest and Marinette counties.

Precipitation at Iron Mountain-Kingsford was below average the final fourth months of 2025.

Snow depth at the end of February at Iron Mountain-Kingsford measured 16 inches and peaked at 19 inches a few days before that. The average February peak for this century is 17 inches, according to data from the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Snowfall last month totaled 11.3 inches, which was very near the norm. Liquid-equivalent precipitation, however, was 1.65 inches above average at 2.8 inches.

Temperatures in February averaged 21.6 degrees at Iron Mountain-Kingsford, which was 4.2 degrees above normal. It was the sixth-warmest February this century, and the 19th-warmest since record-keeping began in the early 1900s. The warmest February was in 1998, with an average temperature of 29.7 degrees.

The highest temperature last month was 53 degrees reported on Feb. 28, well below the record of 65 degrees set in 2024.

The lowest February reading was minus 11 on Feb. 4. Overnight lows fell below zero on seven of the month’s first 12 days. Negative readings were absent after that, although the low on Feb. 26 was zero.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.