Enjoy the weekend! Very nice weather is expected across the area with highs in the upper 50s to near 60 on Sunday. We will see mostly sunny skies with just a few high clouds on Saturday.

This morning we’re on the northern side of an area of high pressure. That will help to bring some SW winds into our area today, leading to those nicer temperatures. The average for this time of the year is 51, so temps this afternoon will be a few degrees above average.

Sunday will also be a pretty nice day with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Clouds will be increasing from the west as our next weather system approaches, but most of the rain should hold off until late into the evening.

Now let’s talk about next week. There will be several opportunities for rain showers, and perhaps a few snowflakes next week as a very unsettled and active pattern develops. We’ll see waves of low presure move along a boundary. With this setup, sometimes the timing can change so keep an eye on updates as these rain opportunities may adjust some.

The first system approaches late Tuesday into Wednesday. A brief wintry mix is possible – mainly to the north but the primary precipitation type will be rain for most.

The second system approaches Thursday resulting in another chance for rain showers. Once again, a brief period of wintry weather could occur but at this time confidence is low. Overnight models have trended warmer but another system Friday could bring another chance. Still 5 days out, so worth watching but as I said yesterday on Twitter there’s a good chance for nothing. Best chances overall in our region will be northern zones.

The setup with this system is not great for big snow chances. Why is that? Well, the process is kind of self limiting. With this setup, you have to have good cold air and a re-enforcing shot of cold air. Basically, as the system moves in the rain helps to warm up the atmosphere and that results in most of the precipitation falling as rain.

So at this point, it’s something to watch but if this winter has taught us anything it should be to not get too excited long range for any snow chances.

Hope you have a great weekend! 

Meteorologist Ricky Matthews

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