Sterling, Michigan Weather
Sterling, Michigan — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Sterling, Arenac County.
Full aviation weather for Sterling is published on the Sugar Springs Airpark (K5M6) page, 35 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 5 airfields within reach of Sterling have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Sterling: Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (KGDW) 37 km · Jack Barstow Airport (KIKW) 45 km · James Clements Municipal Airport (K3CM) 55 km · MBS International Airport (KMBS) 56 km
Conditions reported at K5M6 describe the airfield itself. Weather 35 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Sterling specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Sterling.
About Sterling, Michigan
Sterling lies under a sky that often stretches wide, a vast canvas of pale blue or bruised twilight. It lies 31.0 miles north-north-east of Midland, MI (from Midland, MI: bearing 21°T), and is situated 4.7 miles north-west of Standish. The land here, gently rolling, is a patchwork of cultivated fields and stands of poplar and maple trees, their leaves whispering secrets on the breeze. The Rifle River, a silver ribbon, meanders through the landscape, its banks sometimes soft with reeds, sometimes firm with earth. The air, especially in the early morning, carries a clean, crisp scent of damp soil and distant pine. Evenings descend with a quiet grace, painting the western horizon in hues of rose and fading gold, a gentle hush falling over the scattered farmsteads and the quiet heart of Sterling. This place, Sterling, has long been tied to the bounty of the land, its economy historically rooted in agriculture and the lumber that once dominated the surrounding forests. The legacy of those logging days can still be glimpsed in the sturdy, practical architecture of older buildings, and in the very way the roads seem to follow the old timber trails. While the fields now yield corn and soybeans, the spirit of self-reliance, born from the earth and the woods, still imbues the local character. The Rifle River, more than just a waterway, is a constant presence, a quiet reminder of the natural forces that shaped Sterling and continue to shape the lives of those who call it home.
Live animated radar for Sterling and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 44.033354°N, 84.022772°W |
| Timezone | Eastern Time (America/Detroit) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 48659 |
| Area Code | 586 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Sterling, Michigan Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Sterling, Michigan, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Sterling includes coordinates 44.033354°N, 84.022772°W, situated in Arenac County. ZIP code 48659. Telephone area code: 586. Timezone: Eastern Time (America/Detroit).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
