Taste of Spring ahead of Winter Storm Watch Thursday

Wednesday will reflect spring like temperatures and conditions despite a breeze ahead of a drop in temperatures with wintery weather and a winter storm watch for Thursday.

Today will be the day you want to get outside despite the stronger winds and increasing clouds. Temperatures will give us a pleasant taste of Spring with highs hovering in the low to mid-40s across the area with pockets of sunshine mixed in. Winds will range anywhere from 10 to 20 mph with gusts reaching up to 30 mph at times throughout the day. Cloudy skies will stick around tonight as winds remain strong and temperatures dip into the mid-30s by Thursday morning. The cold front associated with this incoming winter storm will move through late tonight/early tomorrow morning ahead of the precipitation expected in the area.

As the cold front passes through the area, we will reach a high in the mid-30s early Thursday morning. Once the front has fully passed through the area, temperatures are expected to steadily drop into the 20s by the afternoon hours and eventually into the mid-teens by Friday morning. Winds will be rather strong up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph mixed in. Due to the strong winds and snow, a winter storm watch will go into effect at 1 pm and remain in effect through early Friday morning. The strong winds are also going to lead to areas of drifting along with reduced visibility due to blowing snow. Snow is projected to wrap up through the late night hours leaving behind cloudy skies, blustery conditions, bitter temperatures, and areas of blowing snow, reduced visibility, and drifting. Snow totals as of right now are looking to range between 2 and 4 inches with some areas locally looking up to 5 inches possible.

Friday will remain on the cloudy side with a few pop up flurries to areas of very light snow are possible throughout the day. The winter storm watch is set to expire at 7 am Friday morning. Winds will also remain strong up to 30 mph with gusts reaching up to 40 mph. Once again, despite little to no snow, the strong winds will lead to areas of drifting and reduced visibility due to blowing snow around. Temperatures will hover in the mid to upper-teens throughout the afternoon hours before dipping into the single digits by Saturday morning.

Saturday will remain on the blustery side with strong winds, bitter temperatures, and cloudy skies. Temperatures will hover in the mid to upper-teens through the afternoon hours with winds continuing to reach up to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph at times. As expected, with the strong winds sticking around, areas of reduced visibility and drifting remain likely due to the winds blowing snow around. The good news is, skies will gradually clear up late Saturday night leading to mostly clear skies overnight. The bad news is, this means we are looking at another blustery night as we lose our blanket of clouds to keep us warm, dropping temperatures into the low single digits by Sunday morning.

Sunday will start to show signs of improvement as we head into early next week with sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures. Temperatures will rise into the low to mid-20s with mostly sunny skies as a minor breeze sticks around the area. Winds will hover between 10 and 15 mph with occasional gusts up to 20 mph at times. Mostly clear skies will continue overnight as temperatures dip to around 10 degrees by Monday morning.

The first official day of Spring is Monday! Temperatures will be slightly cooler than average but skies will be mostly sunny. We will hover in the mid-30s through the afternoon hours as winds continue to range between 10 and 15 mph. Skies will gradually become mostly cloudy throughout the day before becoming mostly cloudy Monday night as temperatures dip into the low-20s by Tuesday morning.

Temperatures will continue to rise through the rest of next week, topping out in the low-40s before dipping back into the mid-30s by next weekend. Skies will be rather cloudy through the rest of next week with winds increasing from 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph at times to 15 to 20 mph with gusts reaching up to 30 mph. We will see this increase in winds due to another cold front working its way into and through the area. The good news is, we are looking at mainly rain with the passage of this cold front due to the temperatures hovering in the low-40s through Wednesday and Thursday. Rain will move in late Wednesday night and continue on and off throughout Thursday. Temperatures Thursday night will dip into the low-30s, which means we may see a light rain/snow mix heading into Friday. Temperatures will be slightly cooler on Friday with highs hovering in the mid-30s which could continue to lead to a rain/snow mix in the area on Friday.

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