Hello, Cardinal Country! We are in a bit of a lull in the rain, so although it’s quite gray outside, This could be your opportunity to get some walks and errands done before we work some late afternoon and early evening shower activity through our area. The cloud cover – which is expected to remain with us – teams up with some brisk winds that are not doing much to pull in warmer air just yet, so we look to just warm into the middle 40s. We then look to our SW and the start of the main event of the weather forecast, first via a warm front that is closing in on our area. Showers will overspread the area around 7 PM & as the arrow shows, we look to cool to the lower 40s but warm up overnight through the mid and upper 50s as we head towards morning. The heaviest rain – and best potential for thunderstorms (including some possibly strong ones) – looks to be after midnight into the dawn hours of Saturday. With the decent amount of rain that has fallen already from Wednesday night into Thursday, this next system’s heavy rain is the reason why a Flood Watch is in effect until 8 AM Saturday, with 2-4 inches of rain being the event total. It is at this point we have our high, then temperatures crash along with the arrival of a cold front through the lower 40s in the afternoon to evening hours, then we plummet to 30 overnight into Sunday morning. The other concern we are talking about is the potential for strong winds gusting over 45 mph, especially with the storms and even more so behind the front, which, with the soggy soils & even the big wind shift with the front, increases the chances we could see trees topple. Keep an eye out for some *Wind Advisories*, they may be issued later on!
Thankfully, after our storm passes is the start of a calmer and somewhat clearer weather regime, and that clearing will offer us a great opportunity to warm back up to the middle 50s before we cool down & have our next opportunity for showers to work their way in with a weather system Sunday night into Monday before we clear out somewhat Tuesday. Beyond that, our next system looks to be next Friday with a new shot at some stronger weather (i.e some heavy rain & thunderstorms into the evening then. Fly safe, Cardinals, and have a great Friday & an even better weekend ahead!
-Weather Forecaster Ryan Hill
