Next Round of Rain arrives Thursday Night
Good afternoon folks! Although clearing skies will continue this afternoon, we'll also experience a few pop up thunderstorms as the atmosphere destabilizes under blossoming sunshine. Clouds clear out tonight and sunshine reigns supreme Wednesday and Thursday, with clouds and showers returning late Thursday night ahead of the next frontal passage. It seems the front will push through Friday late morning and provide us with another round of rain, although it will be much less than this recent event, which turned out to be a general 1 - 2" of rain instead of the 2 - 3" we forecasted. Passing clouds and sunshine make up the day on Saturday, however a vigorous front and upper level disturbance are scheduled to swing through Sunday and when coupled with strong upslope flow, we could be dealing with a washout to end the weekend (possible 2 - 4" according to the NWS).
Temps Tuesday night settle into the low 40's along the ridgelines with NW winds around 10 - 20mph, while the valleys settle into the upper 40's under a light breeze; all under clearing skies. Sunshine dominates the landscape Wednesday, with a few clouds developing closer to sunset on Thursday, but for the most part we'll enjoy two days of sunshine. Temps hit the upper 50's - mid 70's Wednesday with a light westerly breeze to remind us we're still in spring, however winds pick up out of the south on Thursday, ramping up to 10 - 15mph for the valleys and 20 - 30mph for the ridgelines. This uptick in southerly flow will not do much in the way of temps as they remain in the upper 50's - mid 70's, however overnight lows will warm from the mid - upper 40's Wednesday night to the low - upper 50's Thursday night as clouds build.
Showers develop shortly before or after midnight and will carry over into Friday, with a line of showers and thunderstorms likely around midday. Temps hold to the upper 50's - low 70's Friday and cool down to the mid 40's - low 50's Friday night as clouds clear the region. We are expecting under an inch of rain for the region, with the next heavy rain event unfolding Sunday.
The weekend is still up in the air related to timing of the rain, but for now it seems Saturday will be another day where we can squeeze in outdoor chores (passing clouds), followed by a washout on Sunday. Temps remain in the upper 50's - mid 70's range (cooler if more clouds develop) and should cool down a few degrees on Sunday due to the widespread rainfall. We'll focus on this upcoming event on Thursday afternoon, which is when our next discussion will be posted.