Sunshine and warmer air

For the first week in February today’s (Wednesday’s) weather seems almost balmy with sunshine and a high temperature forecast to nudge the 50 degree (F) mark, but actually we’re only a couple of degrees warmer than normal given the average highs this week are in the upper 40s.  The persistent upper trough with its seemingly endless progression of Alberta Clippers has finally moved off the East Coast for at least a few days.  But given the time of year it wouldn’t do to stand pat on one type of weather so tomorrow (Thursday) we can look for increasing clouds and somewhat cooler temperatures ahead of another surface low pressure system that will bring some rain for tomorrow night and Friday.  (Although I am a bit concerned about the potential for some more #*$*%$& cold air damming that could create conditions for sleet or freezing rain in the wee hours of Friday morning…need to keep an eye on that.)

This HPC graphic indicates the ‘Burg could see a half-inch or so of rain (the dark blue shading) from this next storm although a slight shift in the storm track could dump a lot more over us as indicated by the purple shading:

The upcoming weekend looks to be pleasant under generally sunny skies and high temperatures in the upper 40s to the lower 50s,  which are also close to normal for February.  Then another cold front (non-Arctic) and surface low pressure system look to bring more rain early next week, and as this new cold front stalls over the southeastern U.S. it could set the stage for something more interesting to occur around the ‘Burg for next Wednesday into Thursday.  Since it’s too early to trust forecast model specifics we’ll hold off on discussing that for a couple of more days.

Enjoy the sunshine!

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