Brief Moderating Trend, Then Turning Cold and Wet.

After a clear, cold night tonight, look for a brief moderating trend over the next few days before the next cold front arrives later Thursday. That will set the stage for a chilly, blustery day on Friday and for what is still shaping up to be a cold, wet Saturday.

The clear skies tonight and light winds will result in another very cold start to the day Wednesday with most of us in the 20s and some teens in the colder valleys. Sunny skies and a return to southerly winds will also produce a nice moderating trend with daytime highs well into the 50s by afternoon. Those southerly winds will also keep us from cooling off as much for Thursday morning and should produce daytime highs well into the 50s to near 60 by that afternoon.

Then, the next cold front arrives late in the day shifting our winds back to a northerly direction and cooling us off again for Friday. Temperatures on Friday are tricky due to the influence of clouds moving back in and at least a possibility of some light rain developing. We are getting conflicting guidance during that time frame as one of the models has a very wet signal for much of the day Friday and all the other guidance keeps us dry. Given the uncertainty, have introduced a slight chance of rain for Friday and kept temperatures on the chilly side.

Saturday still looks like a wash with a stronger system aloft dropping into the southern Rockies and then ejecting eastward across the state over the course of the weekend. All available guidance has been consistent in spreading rain across the state starting Friday night and ending by early Sunday morning. Notice the QPF map on the right which shows the rains should be widespread and generous across the state. This will hopefully put a significant dent in the drought that is still ongoing across the more western counties.

Clearing skies are now expected during the day Sunday and much below normal temperatures will be the general rule to start the coming week. At this point, all available guidance also suggests the coldest air will be moving in as the precipitation moves out which would minimize or even eliminate any wintry weather potential.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot