Shower Chances Continue into Midweek, Cooling Down Into October

 

BRRRRRRR! That's all I have to say about this morning. After skies across the region cleared up overnight, temperatures fell into the low 40s in most spots, with a few isolated areas starting their day in the upper 30s. So here's a question for you. Would you call this flannel weather? Sweater weather? Or both? Well, whatever you call it, you're gonna want to grab something warm before stepping out the door this morning. Thankfully, conditions remain dry along with the chilly start. With that being said, our next disturbance will be quick to end the region this afternoon. Not only bringing increasing clouds, but our next chance for showers.

As of this morning, our next disturbance is currently tracking through the Upper Midwest, bringing scattered activity to much of Minnesota. As this disturbance continues to swing around an upper-level low in the northern Great Lakes, it should make it's way in by early this afternoon. Ahead of this system, skies will turn mostly cloudy by mid-day, with shower chances soon to follow. Hi-res models this morning had the best time for showers between 3PM-7PM. Showers that develop later on will be similar to the activity we saw yesterday. These will be scattered in nature, quick to move through, and could produce light to moderate rainfall rates. Rainfall accumulations should remain under a tenth of an inch, with any chances coming to a close after sunset. 

Shower chances do continue into the middle of the work week, as yet another cold front slides into the Stateline. Behind this cold front, a much colder air mass is still expected to spill across The Great Lakes just in time for when we hop in October. If you remember, last year we were rolling into October with highs in the 80s. Unfortunately, that isn't the case this time around. Temperatures following Wednesday's cold front will fall into the 50s for the first few days of the month. Using the calculator in my head, this is about 10° to 15° below average. What a difference a year makes huh? However, this upcoming chill doesn't seem to stick around very long.

Long term outlooks continue to favor a warming trend in temperatures as we roll into the middle of October. More specifically, the next 8-14 days. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to get through this very fall-like stretch. While not hot by any means, conditions here are likely to be warmer than normal, with our current forecast calling for highs in the 60s by the start of next week. Much of the lower 48 in fact is expected to see above average temps, with the highest percentage out towards our west.