Cooler, Chance Rain Sunday; Fire Danger Returns Later in the Week.

The weak frontal boundary along I-40 will be slowly sagging southward over the next 48 hours bringing cooler air back over much of the state. Perhaps more importantly is the higher levels of humidity we will have for the next few days and a decent chance of rain and some showers. All of that along with NE winds near 10 mph means our fire danger situation will be put on hold for at least a few more days, but cannot say the same about later in the week.

The rain and shower activity that is expected for Sunday could start during the morning hours with a few light showers which is expected to become more widespread during the afternoon and into the evening hours before ending by early Monday morning. The chances of any one location getting wet will be on the order of 20% first thing in the morning increasing to 60% by afternoon. There may even be a rumble or two of thunder for the extreme SE counties, but for the most part any rain or showers will be on the light side with total amounts generally less than ¼ inch and no severe weather threat is currently foreseen.

In fact, much of the coming week looks rather tranquil in that regard with only a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm late Tue or Tue night. However, by Wed and Thu gusty southerly winds and warmer temperatures will be returning which means another high fire danger situation. Another weak boundary will be approaching our part of the state on Friday and Saturday which will not bring much if any rain, but should result in lighter winds and lessen the fire threat by then. As far as any chances of a good soaking rain, there are some hints that early in the following week a more significant storm system may be coming our way.

In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot