Rain showers continue spreading eastward today as that cold frontal boundary starts knocking on our doorstep. NWS has issued a Flood Watch from norther Mississippi to north Ohio. Our area is under a Hazardous Weather Outlook for possible flooding issues. This may be upgraded to Flood Watch/Warning later tonight or Tuesday as that system presses eastward. We'll keep mild temperatures today with highs in the upper 50s. But as that cold front crosses our area during the day Tuesday, we'll see a steady decline in temperatures with lows falling into the upper 20s each night. After Tuesday, highs will barely make it into the mid 40s.  

But the precip will remain in the form of rain until sometime Wednesday night/early Thursday. At this time, we'll see a changeover to mainly snow. Although some mixed precip is a brief possibility Thursday, especially for eastern portions of our state, in the lee of the mountains. In any case, snowfall accumulations do not look impressive. Moisture associated with this system will be departing as that cold air really sinks in. So we're still lookin' at trace amounts of snow by Thursday.

High pressure will move build into our area to dry things out during the day on Thursday. But the cold air will stick around. By the weekend, a reinforcing blast of cold air will knock the bottom out of the temperatures with highs struggling to reach above freezing. However, we still do not have any long-lived cold air masses or impressive snowfall forecasts at the moment.

Have a great week!


You can track the foward progress of those rain showers here... http://weather.unisys.com/radar/rad_us_loop.gif

Today's image shows the latest hazardous weather/warning areas. Altough we're still in the clear, this may change. The easternmost portion of that Flood Watch is that green swath over there in Ohio. Remember, you can track local warnings by clicking on the NWS (National Weather Service) icon on the right hand side of this page!

We're allowed plenty of sunshine with pleasant temperatures as high pressure glides over the eastern US this weekend. Our next cold front (already dropping heavy rain & mixed precip across the Midwest http://weather.unisys.com/radar/rad_us_loop.gif) will move across the Mid Atlantic states to bring more rain Monday into Wednesday. Some heavy rain is forecast to bring possible minor flooding problems to our area Tuesday & Wednesday. Cold air will skirt the area to bring a changeover to snow Wednesday & Thursday morning. We'll begin to dry out Thursday but cold air will keep things on the cool side to round out the work week. 
 
Today's image, courtesy of Unysis Weather depicts 850 millibar temperatures & warm air advection into our region this weekend!

High pressure keeps a strong foothold over the eastern US today. So we can keep the sunshine & dry conditions into the weekend. Clear nighttime skies allow temps to fall into the 20s and even teens in the mountains last night & tonight. Our weekend forecast will be a bit warmer. Saturday will be mostly sunny with highs in the mid 50s. Sunday, we'll be in the warm sector of a developing cold front timed for the beginning of next week. So temps will be a bit warmer Sunday with highs possibly reaching 60. But clouds will be on the increase, especially later in the day. We'll likely see some light rain showers by Sunday evening & overnight.

That cold front & low pressure trough will keep our forecast on the soggy side Monday & Tuesday. NWS has already issued a hazardous weather outlook for Ohio and Kentucky for minor flooding into next week. NWS may need to hoist a warning flag for our area as well. As much as 2-3 inches of new rain could fall over our forecast area. Up to 6 inches of rain are possible in the Tennessee & Mississippi Valleys!

By Tuesday night we'll see a changeover from rain to snow as that cold front crosses the mountains. Although it's still rather early, it looks like snow will be short lived and will not get you out of school. Perhaps if you're lucky you may get a two-hour delay Wednesday. In any case, high pressure will return to dry things out late in the day Wednesday...

Have a nice weekend!