Gusty Winds Usher in Spring-like Warmth and Midweek Rain Chances

Weather-wise, there's plenty to talk about as this week features a more active pattern. We begin with the spring-like warmth that arrives early on, which will eventually lead to rain chances by midweek. 

But let's get right down to business by talking about that incoming warmth, starting with this morning. A warm southerly wind overnight resulted in a very slow drop in temperatures, landing most of our spots in the upper 30s and low 40s. To put how warm we are into perspective, our average high for this time of year is 43°. Meteorologically speaking, when your low temperatures start out near the daily average high, that's a good indication that a unseasonably warm day lies ahead.

Today is going to be one of those "get outside and soak in the warmth if you can" type days. Behind a  warm front that swept through overnight, southwest winds will help temperatures soar into the upper 50s by this afternoon. This will likely bring us our warmest day of the year. But our first 60° day? The potential is there, but I think we have a better shot at reach that mark Tuesday or Wednesday. The sunshine sticks around, with a few clouds passing through from time to time. A secondary warm front sliding through Tuesday morning will ramp up winds just above the surface, allowing an even warmer air-mass to filter in. 

Along with the warm front may come a little bit of cloud cover, which will bring a partly to mostly cloudy start to our Tuesday. However, any cloud cover we see early on will give way to more sunshine and warmth by the afternoon. A gusty south-southeast wind, with occasional gusts up to 25 mph, will help us crack the 60° mark for the first time this year. These temperatures look to last until Wednesday evening ahead of a strong cold front brings our temperatures down to near average by the weekend. Breezy conditions are also expected for Tuesday becoming windy by Wednesday.

As the cold front approaches, strong southwesterly winds will transport a vast amount of moisture in the region from the Gulf of Mexico. This will unfortunately bring an end to this lovely dry stretch of weather, bringing a chance for light rain as early as Wednesday morning. As moisture increases, heavier rounds of rain are expected to move in by Wednesday evening, continuing into Wednesday night. I don't know about you, but I get excited when we get to talk about our first chance for a few rumbles of thunder. A few thunderstorms are possible overnight into Thursday morning as the cold front enters the region. Scattered showers will continue into Thursday morning, with activity winding down by Thursday afternoon. A majority of the area could see rainfall totals between .5" to 1", with sunshine returning by Friday!