The Southeast Lower Climate Division of Michigan is bounded by the Ohio border to the south, Lake Huron, Lake St Clair, and Lake Erie to the east, and extends west to include the cities of Flint and Ann Arbor. The terrain is diverse, ranging from the extremely urbanized areas of downtown Detroit, to expansive agricultural lands in the Thumb, to rolling forests peppered with inland lakes in the central counties.
This division experiences a humid continental climate dominated primarily by the movement of high and low pressure systems. Large seasonal temperature variations and highly variable daily weather patterns are common. Long periods of intense heat or severe cold are relatively rare, and the Great Lakes do provide some moderation of temperature compared to areas at similar latitudes that are outside the Great Lakes Basin. There are occasional spells of lake-effect precipitation, but lake effects are typically limited to increased cloudiness in the fall and winter. Most of the annual precipitation falls during the summer months in the form of afternoon thunderstorms. Snow cover is less severe and of shorter duration than in northern regions of the state.