The Ides of March will see sunshine but the weekend looks wet and cloudy
After a low of 27 degrees this morning at Shannon Airport the ‘Burg will rebound to a high temperature near the 60-degree mark this afternoon. This warmth is courtesy of southwesterly winds ahead of the next weather system, which involves a cold front sagging southward (a “back door” front) that will stall not far south of the ‘Burg for a few days. That, unfortunately for St. Patricks’ Day activities, will usher in cooler air, wet weather, and clouds for both the weekend and early next week. Potential rain totals through next Wednesday morning are shown in this graphic:
The light and dark blue shading that bisect the Fredericksburg area indicate that the total rainfall for the next few days will top out between 0.5 and 0.75 inches, not a washout by any means.
The good news about all the recent rainfall is that this past autumn’s drought conditions here in the Old Dominion have been completely, eliminated according to the Climate Prediction Center. Here is their latest graphic showing that:
The soil moisture should be in good shape for the start of the 2013 growing season.
Meanwhile it looks like this month will continue to be much cooler than the above average warmth of March 2012 as Canadian air masses continue to invade the U.S. over the next couple of weeks. The good news is that the strengthening sunshine is warming things up so that this air is nowhere near as cold as it would have been in January. However, overall March 2013 is shaping up to be cooler than normal. Beware the “Ides of March”?
