Colder Temps around the Corner
Good afternoon folks! The warmer days are behind us and looking ahead we'll find temps slowly declining with each passing day, bottoming out sometime Tuesday into Wednesday, with a return to near normal levels late next week. We have a round of rain moving through early Saturday morning, exiting late Saturday night, with sunshine on tap for Sunday. Dry but cold weather sets up shop Monday through Wednesday and Sunday will be chilly, but temps climb to normal levels whereas early next week will be below normal. There will be a window of wintry precip above 5000' early Saturday morning but everything kicks over to rain, so nothing to really watch there and the possibility for snow next Tuesday has evaporated on the modeling. All in all, declining temps, passing showers Saturday and then a few cold days to start the work and school week.
Friday keeps mostly sunny skies overhead, which is more sun than we previously forecasted as the front takes some time moving east. With this in mind we dont expect cloud cover to increase till the late afternoon hours and isolated showers will begin to break out shortly after midnight. Temps Friday reach the upper 30's - low 40's along the ridgelines while the valleys warm to the low 50's. Temps bottom out to the low - mid 30's overnight into Saturday.
As precip develops early Saturday morning the higher ridgelines will experience a mix of sleet and snow but we dont expect much in the way of accumulations, with all precip becoming rain an hour or two before midday. Scattered showers sweep the region around midday and intensities will be light - moderate, not as heavy as we previously forecasted, resulting in rainfall totals around a half inch for most of the region. Temps Saturday warm to the low - upper 40's depending upon elevation, so not much movement and overnight temps will settle into the upper 20's - mid 30's, but well after precip has ended, which will occur shortly after midnight.
Sunshine quickly takes over for Sunday and the clock begins on our four to five day stretch of dry but colder weather. Temps Sunday reach the mid 30's along the ridgelines, while the valleys near the upper 40's, however NW winds will be howling along the highest ridgelines with gust up to 45mph; 10 - 15mph wind speeds in the valleys. Overnight lows settle into the upper teens - mid 20's and winds will keep up till the pre dawn hours on Monday.
Sunshine sticks around for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and temps go from the upper 20's - low 40's Monday to the low 30's - mid 40's by Wednesday. The coldest night should be Monday night with temps in the low - upper teens across the region.
We'll follow up with a new discussion on Saturday, likely during the afternoon hours and focus on the upcoming cold snap and the remainder of the work and school week.