Clearing Skies, Patchy Fog Tonight.

Now that this latest round of rain has moved on eastward, the map on the right shows the rainfall totals from around the state over the last two days. The widespread nature of the rainfall has put another serious dent in the ongoing drought, particularly for the more SE counties which have gone from drought to flood in some instances. Unfortunately, our more western neighbors are still in need of much more rainfall. They will get another chance as will the eastern part of the state this coming Friday and Friday night when the next cold front will be coming our way.

In the meantime, the timing of these systems has worked out perfectly for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our skies will be gradually clearing from W – E this afternoon with clear skies expected for the overnight hours and for Wednesday. The wind will also calm down overnight and with residual moisture in place from the recent rains, we expect to have at least patchy fog for later tonight through the early morning hours of Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon will have sunny skies, light winds, and moderating temperatures.

Thanksgiving Day will have lots of sunshine, but gusty southerly winds will be developing during the day which will also warm things up. In fact, we should be near 70 that afternoon. Friday will also be warmer and rather windy with gusty southerly winds. Those strong southerly winds are in advance of the next cold front that is on schedule to arrive late Friday night. Showers and storms will be likely along and ahead of the cold front followed by some lingering light rain and showers through the morning hours of Saturday. Gusty northerly winds will bring much cooler air back into the state for the rest of the weekend and into early the following week.

For now, will keep the Sun-Mon time frame cool and dry. There is some additional uncertainty regarding clouds and possibly some light precipitation due to the position and strength of a rather strong disturbance aloft during this time frame. Right now, it appears that this system will be closing off just far enough east for us to be mostly sunny and cool and that is the way the forecast is trending at this time….but, that is certainly subject to change.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot