Thaw finally coming for Detroit as police joke about polar bears
How cold is it?
Well, it's so cold one suburban Detroit police agency posted to Facebook: "We are not saying it is cold outside, but this is an actual photograph from one of our in-car cameras last night." The picture is of a polar bear prowling a snow-covered street.
We are not saying it is cold outside, but this is an actual photograph from one of our in-car cameras last night.
Posted by Berkley Department of Public Safety on Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Residents took the humor in stride, adding their own jokes.
"I keep saying this is probably what Alaska feels like," one person commented. Others pointed out that Berkley High's mascot is a bear — but not a polar bear — and others urged making sure that Nuka and Suka were still at the Detroit Zoo.
The cold, with wind chills as low as 10 degrees below zero this week, is expected to linger for a few days, with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees below normal, the National Weather Service warned.
Thursday morning is expected to bring light snow, with highs reaching the low 20s. Friday and Saturday's forecast calls for it to get warmer, in the upper 20s. By Sunday, the temperature could rise above freezing, but just barely, in the mid-30s.
More: It's cold, but your car doesn't care. Why you shouldn't warm your car up in the morning
Monday, it could get warmer with highs in the 40s, with a chance of snow and rain.
Still, cold weather, Michiganders know, is no laughing matter, and can be deadly.
Funerals were held this week for two children who Detroit police said appeared to have frozen to death while they slept in a van in a downtown casino parking garage. Their caskets, one blue and the other pink, were adorned with flowers and stuffed animals.
And in southwest Detroit, a water main break flooded hundreds of people out of their homes.
Still, this week's more light-hearted social media post offered some respite from tragedy, if not the cold, and was good humor with a few folks imagining a polar bear actually was roaming around.
A couple of them even mentioned the white bear looked like it wanted a Coca-Cola.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Metro Detroit weather forecast: Warmer temperatures on the way
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