Stout Temperature Inversions this Week
Good morning folks! We're off to another chilly start in the valleys with plenty of readings in the low - mid 20's across the lower elevations, while the ridgelines warmed up to the 40's after midnight. We'll experience several more temperature inversion this week, with Thursday morning possibly the strongest as the setup looks better than Monday and Tuesday nights. For those who want dry weather, this is your week as we do not expect any rain to fall from today (Monday) through Friday, with a small chance for rain Friday night into the late morning hours on Saturday (Christmas Day); very light amounts around 0.10" over the 24 hour period. A low pressure system will spin up along the Gulf Coast tomorrow and eventually ride the Atlantic coastline Tuesday into Wednesday, however none of this moisture reaches our area. What it does do is keep temps around normal as we experience some high cloud cover Tuesday, followed by pure sunshine Wednesday as high pressure slides into the region as the low pressure system exits to the east. High pressure holds strong till roughly Friday evening, when a warm front is expected to lift northeast across the area, followed by a cold front Sunday that could bring us a second round of light rain; low confidence with this second frontal passage. Temps all the while will go from normal today (low 50's) to above normal by Friday and well above normal this upcoming holiday weekend; low 60's Friday, mid - upper 60's Sat/Sun.
We'll start the timeline on Tuesday morning with a moderate temperature inversion to start the day; mid 20's in the valleys and upper 30's above 4500'. High clouds sit overhead most of the day, alongside a southwesterly breeze around 5 - 10mph. Temps warm to the low 40's above 5000', while the valleys make a push to the mid 50's. Clouds clear during the evening hours and overnight lows bottom out to the low 20's in the valleys, with mid - upper 30's likely above 4000'.
Wednesday brings us high pressure that will keep sunny skies overhead throughout the day, extending into Thursday and most of the day Friday. Temps warm to the low 40's - mid 50's on Wednesday, pushing into the mid 40's - upper 50's by Thursday afternoon. We peak for the week in the low 60's on Friday, with a few clouds developing after midday, increasing to mostly cloudy skies by the late evening hours. Overnight lows bottom out to the upper teens - mid 20's Wednesday night across the valleys, while the ridgelines sit comfortably in the upper 30's - low 40's. Temps should finally return to a normal elevation dependent setup Thursday night with overnight lows in the upper 20's above 5000', while the valleys sit in the mid 30's. Friday night will be more homogenous across the area as temps settle into the low - mid 40's due to light showers developing after midnight, spilling over into Christmas Day.
Don't fret about the rain chances on Christmas Day as coverage will be very isolated and intensities light, only amounting to a 0.10" of an inch at best, with all precip ending shortly after midday. In fact, some locations will not experience any rain and instead will see more sun than clouds as we see a mixed bag of clouds and sun with the warm frontal passage. Temps soar to the mid - upper 60's on Saturday and repeat this extreme on Sunday. The models show a second frontal passage on Sunday but there remains a good deal of uncertainty as to how much rain we'll see, or if we'll experience any at all. With such low confidence we'll stop here and circle back on Wednesday with a better look at the holiday weekend; one take home is that travel will not be impacted.