Dry Thursday, Latest Regarding Friday's Storm

Dry Thursday:

Mother nature gave us quite the treat for the first day of meteorological spring. The sun-filled skies we saw gave temperatures a nice boost as highs landed in the low to mid 50s. The weather today won't be as pleasant thanks to a weak cold front that swung through overnight. Expect mostly cloudy skies from start to finish, with highs landing between 10°-20° cooler.

Friday's Storm:

I'll be honest, Friday's storm system has been a "forecasting headache" so to speak as models have failed to get a firm grip on the the storm’s track, precipitation type, and the placement of highest impacts. Are models in better agreement? 

Only by a smidge I'd say. In fact, forecast models have come in with a slight shift to the south with the overall track of the storm, taking the surface low through extreme southern Illinois mid to late Friday morning. Because of this change, the area in which the highest impacts will occur also has shifted southward but does include a portion of the Stateline.

Earlier this morning, the National Weather Service placed counties to the southeast of our forecast area under a WINTER STORM WATCH. 

This watch does NOT include any of our counties. However, that could very well change throughout the day as more details regarding Friday's system reveal themselves. So, it will be VERY important to pay attention to the forecast this afternoon and evening for the latest. 

As of right now, it does still look like this event will begin as a light wintry mix, with a changeover to snow showers after mid-day. Any snow that does manage to fall will be heavy and wet, and will have a difficult time overcoming the extremely warm pavement temperatures. But you should expect some impacts to Friday's evening commute. Along with tomorrow's messy weather is a rather intense wind out of the east and northeast. 

Gusts could land in the 30-40 mph range, especially during the afternoon hours. Beyond Friday's low, mainly dry conditions filter in for the upcoming weekend. The only change we are keeping an eye on is during the latter half of Saturday as a washed out cold front slides through. Otherwise, a somewhat organized system will bring a better chance for rain late Sunday into Monday.