Morning Rain Followed by Sunshine Going Into the Weekend.

So far, 2014 has certainly been on the cold, dreary side as the average temperature up to this point is running more than 10 degrees below normal. Today is certainly not going to help in that regard with the cloudy skies, fog, and mist all combining to hold temperatures steady in the mid 30s through the afternoon hours. As we go through the night tonight, temperatures will either hold steady or may even rise a few degrees by early Friday morning due to the cloudy skies and a SE wind that will continue overnight.

A stronger system aloft will move over the state later tonight and Friday morning bringing another round of wet weather, but this will be all liquid as temperatures at the surface and aloft will have warmed enough to produce just rain. The rain will be arriving during the late night and early morning hours and then quickly exiting the state eastward during the afternoon and early evening hours. Skies will also be clearing rapidly behind this system so we may get to see at least some sunshine before the day is over. As the QPF map on the right shows, there will be a rather sharp W-E gradient in rainfall amounts with the more E and SE counties likely to receive an inch or more but rapidly dropping off to the west.

The SE winds for tonight and to start the day Friday will be shifting to a more westerly direction during the afternoon as the system aloft moves on by. That will bring in drier air at the surface and aloft resulting in the clearing skies. Lots of sunshine should be the general rule for the weekend and going into the following week. Also, the westerly wind component is a downslope wind for us which means temperatures may make it into the 50s by late afternoon after starting off near 40.

Saturday morning will start off near freezing, but a more W wind during the afternoon together with the sunshine should get us well into the 50s. Sunday looks even better with a SW wind for much of the day, lots of sunshine, and daytime highs reaching the 60s. Another cold front will arrive that evening/night, but this system is originating in the Pacific and will be coming at us from the west instead of the tundra to the north. As a result, early next week will see a bit of a cool-down, but temperatures will still be running above normal and there is no mention of precipitation at this time.

So, hang in there as the cold, dreary conditions we have been enduring will soon be coming to an end and the weekend along with much of next week looks much more promising.

Dick Faurot