Much Cooler for Thursday.

Just time for a quick update.  Severe weather potential for the more E/SE counties for the rest of the evening and early night time hours as a dry line moves on SE across the state followed by a cold front arriving later tonight.  Notice the relative humidity values as of late this afternoon as that very dry air surges eastward. 

[img]

The reason for the higher humidity levels across the Panhandle is largely due to the much cooler air that is surging that direction as you can see on the 24 hour temperature change map. 

[img]

Of course, all this has been accompanied by extremely strong winds all day with wind gusts commonly above 40 and in some case over 60.  Those are straight line, gradient winds; not winds from storms so this is an extremely strong system. 

[img]

The drier air moving across the rest of the state tonight will push any threat of storms well on eastward very quickly.  Unfortunately, strong NW winds behind the cold front as it arrives by morning will maintain a high fire danger despite the much cooler temperatures that we will have on Thursday.  Look for temperatures to drop into the upper 30s to lower 40s by morning, but NW winds in excess of 20 mph will make it feel much cooler.

Lots of sunshine during the day will try to warm things up, but those strong NW winds will keep us in the 50s pretty much all day.  By late in the day, the winds will settle down with a lighter wind for the overnight hours which will allow temperatures to drop down to near the freezing level by Friday morning.  As a result, a freeze watch has been issued by the good folks at the local NWS office for the more NE counties and in particular for the cooler valleys.

[img]

A return to southerly winds during the day and lots of sunshine should get us back into the 60s that afternoon and Saturday will be warmer yet.  But, clouds will also be on the increase Saturday with a chance of showers/light rain/thunder for the overnight hours and into the morning hours of Sunday.  As you can see on our forecast page, another cold front will arrive by early Sunday morning with gusty northerly winds all day and much cooler temperatures once again.  The data to this point suggests the showers for early Sunday morning should be moving on eastward rather quickly so the late morning through the afternoon hours should be dry and we should also see clearing skies during the day.  As a result, Easter Sunday is not expected to be a complete washout although it will certainly be on the cool side and with a gusty N wind.

That will be followed by another cold start to the day on Monday but another quick warm up through the middle of the week.  Yet another storm system looks to be headed this way by Thursday so at least a chance of showers or storms is expected by late Wednesday followed by another cool-down for the latter part of next week.

In other words, some crazy spring time weather in the days ahead, so stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot