Mild Today, Windy and Colder Monday.

As you can see from the image on the right, our prospects for any significant moisture through the coming forecast period are in the slim to none category. That is not to say that we will not be having some cold fronts sweeping through from time to time, just that they will have very little moisture to work with and therefore little or no mention of rain anytime soon.

For example, a wind shift came through the state overnight and we have a NE wind this morning. This has cooled temperatures off to start the day, but this is a very weak system and a more E to even SE wind at times today along with lots of sunshine should get well into the 50s again.

Colder air will be arriving tonight with a stronger N wind for tonight and through the day on Monday. As a result, temperatures will be dropping into the 20s by early Monday morning and only rising to near 40 that afternoon. That means it will be cold and blustery for the Martin Luther King parade on Monday. At least there should be plenty of sunshine as fair to partly cloudy skies are anticipated.

The colder weather on Monday is just a glancing blow of the really cold air which will be further east of us and quickly moving on eastward. In fact, after a cold start Tuesday morning look for temperatures to rebound nicely that afternoon as our winds will be back to a southerly direction along with lots of sunshine.

That warming trend will continue through Wednesday and into Thursday before another cold front arrives Thursday afternoon. The longer range guidance is in pretty good agreement that this system should arrive during the afternoon hours, but we should still make it well into the 50s before the winds shift back to the north. There may be a few showers with this system, but as has been the case for months now, it appears the deeper moisture and better rain chances will be further east of us.

That will be followed by another cool-down for Friday and Saturday before another warm-up commences on Sunday. In other words the temperature roller coaster is well under way, but unfortunately, none of these systems will be wet systems and our ongoing drought situation will continue. There are some hints that a stronger system aloft may impact our weather during that following week, but will take a wait and see approach before beating the drum on any rain chances of consequence.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot