A wet weekend leads to a dry and cold week as 2015 arrives

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and are thankful that rain held off to make for very pleasant weather for the holiday! Rain has moved in today though as a cold front approaches and moisture surges in from the Gulf. The front will pass through early this evening and bring temps down from the tolerable mid 50's quickly into the 40's. The cold front won't stop the rain though, as it continues overnight and into Sunday morning as low pressure moves along the front, wrapping rain back into the metro. Sunday will be much cooler behind the front with temperatures fairly steady in the mid 40s, or about 10 degrees cooler than today.

What temperatures could look like tonight at 9 PM as the cold front pushes through the metro. Graphic courtesy WeatherBell Analytics.

By noon on Sunday most rain will be out of the metro, with some lingering showers left over in northern Mississippi departing toward the east as yet another low moves along the front. This will effectively end precipitation chances in the metro until after New Year's Day. Cool but dry conditions are expected for those of you heading to the Liberty Bowl to see Texas A&M take on WVU.

Simulated radar at noon Sunday, showing what's left of rain departing to our east. Graphic courtesy WeatherBell Analytics.

Temps in the meantime look to get quite cold with temps in the lower 40's for highs and the upper 20's for lows on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day as massive Arctic high pressure moves into the western U.S., but "leaks" east across the Plains into the Mississippi Valley.

Temperatures could be more than 10 degrees below normal as we prepare to ring in the New Year. Graphic courtesy WeatherBell Analytics.

Looking ahead to Thursday night, precipitation will make its return from the south, while temperatures at the onset could be right around freezing as lingering cold air hangs around. It's too early to make a call with any certainty, but initial precipitation Thursday night into early Friday could fall as light ice or snow. However we expect precipitation to change over to rain during the day Friday as warmer temperatures stream into the region from the south. Rain could continue into the weekend for those of you with any plans for the first weekend of the 2015. 

Here's a look at the full MWN 6-Day Forecast:

We'll keep everyone updated on the latest conditions and expectations heading towards the Liberty Bowl and New Year's Eve on our social media channels listed below.

William Churchill, MWN Social Media Intern

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