More Pleasant Fall Weather.

The overall weather pattern remains relatively quiet right on through this coming Thanksgiving weekend. Although there will be some occasional systems affecting the state from time to time, all indications are that they will be relatively weak with no major changes to our pleasant fall weather. Temperatures will be gradually moderating during the coming week with no real cold air in sight.

As shown by the low temperature map on the right, our day started with temperatures near or below freezing for many locations. That is colder than normal for this time of year, but lots of sunshine and a light SE breeze should get us to near normal this afternoon. By the way, the normal temperature range for this date is 61/39 for the high/low respectively.

The first in a series of upper level systems that will be impacting our weather will be apparent on Sunday in the form of increasing cloud cover. In fact, we should see an increase in the middle and higher level cirrus clouds by first thing in the morning and mostly cloudy skies will then prevail for the rest of the day. Our skies should be fair for most of the night until early morning, so temperatures will still drop back into the 30s to start the day on Sunday. The mostly cloudy skies for the rest of the day should limit our daytime heating to the low-mid 60s which is just a bit above normal. Our winds will also be picking up during the day with a S to SE wind of 10-20 mph.

The upper level system responsible for the increase in cloud cover is rather weak and does not have a lot of moisture to work with. Even so, there could be a few showers late Sunday, through the overnight hours, and into the day Monday. Right now it appears that the chances of any one location receiving measurable rainfall will be only on the order of 20% or less through that period.

The mostly cloudy skies on Monday will also moderate temperatures, particularly at night, with morning lows in the 40s and daytime highs in the 60s. The system will be on past us Tuesday so we should see a little more sunshine and continued southerly winds. Those southerly winds will become rather gusty by Wednesday which together with the partly cloudy skies should result in a temperature range from the upper 40s that morning to near 70 that afternoon.

Another rather weak system aloft will then bring more cloud cover our way for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Thanksgiving Day itself now looks to be mostly cloudy and quite mild with a morning low near 50 and daytime high near 70. A few showers late in the day or that night will be possible as well as into the day Friday. At this time, this also appears to have minimal impact on our sensible weather with the chances of rain only on the order of 20% or so. Temperatures may drop off some for Friday into Saturday, but current indications still suggest we will be above normal.

As mentioned above, there is no real cold air in sight that would be coming our way anytime soon. So, enjoy this pleasant fall weather, stay tuned, and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot