Christmas snow storm timeline • Lions path to the playoffs • Stolen car brake-checks cop

TUESDAY NEWS HIT - A winter storm will blast Michigan later this week, bringing both bitter cold and snow heading into Christmas weekend.

Metro Detroit will be hit with high winds and dangerous wind chills, along with snow.

What to expect

Snow will start around 9 p.m. Thursday as winds increase.

It will snow nearly all day Friday, with the heaviest in the morning. There is some indication it will be a bit drier in the afternoon. That snow will be accompanied by dangerously low wind chills and strong winds.

Travel is expected to be dangerous Friday, so plan accordingly if you are headed somewhere for the holiday weekend.

Friday night, the snow picks back up heading into Saturday. 

How much snow will Metro Detroit get?

It's too soon to say how much snow we could get, though early projections show that Metro Detroit could see more than 4 inches. Central Michigan may get more than 6 inches, and the northern part of the state should brace for more than 8 inches.

FOX 2's Derek Kevra will have more accurate snow totals in the coming days. 

Current Metro Detroit forecast

1 killed after fire engulfs Rochester Hills mobile home

Neighbors were heartbroken after a resident in their Rochester Hills mobile home neighborhood was killed in a fire early Tuesday morning. "They would put it out, it would come back, they would put it out, and it would come back," said Lisa Chase. "It's tragic. It's horrible."

The fire broke out at the Rochester Estates Mobile Homes park near Avon Road and John R, where firefighters responded around 1:30 a.m. When they arrived at the home, the fire had already engulfed the structure. 

The victim inside the home, identified as a man in his 60s, lived alone - though neighbors always said he was a caring person. "When we came out, all you could see is smoke, then all of a sudden you could see flames bursting out through the windows. When we saw his car, we thought ‘oh lord, he's gotta be in there," Chase said.

Emergency crews located the victim during a search of the property and transported him to the hospital. He passed away there. While no cause of the fire has been determined, firefighters said the man collected newspaper which may have contributed to the home burning so quickly. 

Woman brake-checks cop in stolen ‘It’ themed car

The Michigan State Police made a unique arrest last Friday night when troopers caught up to a woman who intentionally brake-checked a fully-marked trooper in a stolen SUV that had the ‘Pennywise’ from the movie "It" painted on its hood.

According to police, she brake-checked a patrol unit around 7:30 p.m. last Friday. The 34-year-old suspect, later identified as Shannon Overton, had stolen the oddly-painted car. 

"I was in the driver's seat and I saw in my mirror, her go right behind my car. So I jumped out to see what she was doing behind my car," Jerry Winchester, the car's original owner said. "We grabbed a hold of the car, punching windows, trying to break the window to stop her, she drug us out to the road." 

Police's encounter with the stolen car shortly after Winchester let go. She was driving erratically before spiking the brakes on the trooper, causing him to rear-end the vehicle - which prompted the high speed chase. It ended in Dundee when police used stop sticks twice. Here's what she was charged with.

Teen shot to death on Detroit's west side Monday night

The Detroit Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting of a teenage boy on the city's west side. Around 5:45 Monday evening, police were called to the shooting near 7 Mile and Southfield Roads after 911 calls and Shotpotter reports multiple gunshots on Ferguson.

Police said boy ran about 100 yards from over to Biltmore where he collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital but died from his injuries.

"Anytime anyone is killed it's very impactful on the family and when you got a juvenile the week before Christmas, it's just a horrible series of incidents," said Detroit Police Capt. Brian Bowser

It’s unclear what led up to the shooting or why the teen was targeted.

Detroit Lions' path to the playoffs

The Detroit Lions were the talk of the NFL back in August. There was a pulse coming out of training camp after HBO's Hard Knocks finished. Then the season started and by the end of October, Detroit sat at 1-6 and looked destined for another last place finish in the north. Then it all changed. 

Many of those first six losses weren't as bad as they may have seemed on their surface - except for Dallas and New England, those were some bad losses - but the offense was the top offense in the league.

The Lions lost 5 straight, traded tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings for a couple of draft picks, and appeared to be headed towards another year of the rebuilding process. Same. Old. Lions. Right? Wrong.

On Nov. 6, Aaron Rodgers came to town and the Lions beat the Packers 15-9. Consider the switch flipped. After starting 1-6, the Lions have now gone 6-1 – with the only loss coming to the AFC-best Buffalo Bills on a field goal with 25 seconds left on Thanksgiving Day. Suddenly, the Lions are set up for a shot at an NFC wild card spot. Here's how they'll get there.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Tuesday will be a pretty quiet day for weather. So will Wednesday and Thursday before a wintry mix of rain and snow starts to fall. That's when the real action begins. 

What else we're watching

1. Did you know the Great Lakes are growing more acidic? All the carbon dioxide the water bodies are absorbing are leading to more acidification, which could have consequences for the food web and biomes that thrive in the lakes. 
2. While the Lions are trending up, the Red Wings are reeling after their 6th straight loss. It's been a brutal stretch since the Wings had their road series against some of the league's tougher competition. They lost in OT to the Washington Capitals 4-3 Monday night. 
3. The portion of I-94 that closed over the weekend in Detroit has reopened. MDOT had been working on the Second Avenue and Grand River Avenue bridges near I-75 and M-10. 
4. Carhartt is expanding its operations to Dearborn, creating 125 jobs, according to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office. The state beat out Kentucky and Mexico for the bid. 
5. Dearborn police killed a man who entered the police department and tried shooting at least one round before their gun jammed. It happened Sunday afternoon around 3:30 a.m.

Trump criminal referral: What laws the Jan. 6 panel says were broken

The House Jan. 6 committee on Monday urged the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Donald Trump for four different crimes — actions that touch not only the former president’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but also his behavior during last year's insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The committee's referrals to the Justice Department carry no legal weight since federal prosecutors are already conducting their own investigation and are the sole deciders of whether to pursue charges against Trump. That investigation is being led by a newly named special counsel, Jack Smith, who has already signed off on a flurry of subpoenas but has made no public statements about what direction his criminal probe will take.

Nonetheless, the committee said during its final public meeting that it regarded its report as providing a "roadmap to justice" — and indeed, focus now shifts to the Justice Department and whether it will concur that the evidence is sufficient for prosecution.