Another Chance of Rain in the Forecast.

The rainfall Saturday night certainly helped with the short term dryness. In fact, the soil moisture map at 2 inches under sod as shown on the right clearly indicates that much of our state is in pretty good shape in that regard. Obviously, there are some exceptions. More importantly though is that those rains did not recharge the deeper layers of the soil nor did they do much to help with our streams and reservoirs. In other words, it was nice but we need more, much more in fact.

Fortunately, we have another decent shot at rain coming up which will also help, but still will not be a drought buster. The next cool front is still on schedule to arrive by Wednesday morning and it looks like there will be a good chance of rain and possibly even some thunder through Wed and into Thursday before it moves on out. Rainfall totals may be as much as another ½ inch or so….keeping the fingers crossed on that.

Between now and then, southerly winds and sunny skies will warm things up and we should reach the upper 70s to lower 80s this afternoon. Those southerly winds will also result in a milder start to the day on Tuesday and should be strong enough to eliminate the fog problem of the last few mornings. Even stronger S to SW winds on Tuesday together with sunny skies and temperatures in the low-mid 80s will result in an enhanced fire danger situation.

Then the cool front arrives and the temperature roller coaster will be plunging downward again. Right now it appears that the front will be arriving during the morning hours of Wednesday. That should result in an inverted temperature profile with the warmest temperatures in the morning and falling temperatures for the rest of the day. Gusty northerly winds, cloudy skies, and scattered showers or periods of rain will also contribute to the cool down.

Thursday will likely start off cool and wet but should see decreasing cloud cover by late in the day. Sunshine is now expected to return in time for the coming weekend along with a nice rebound in temperatures.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot