Spring officially arrives with spring-like weather!

I go on vacation for a week and winter comes back! (Seriously, big ups to #TeamMWN interns for the awesome job holding down the fort this past week while I got some much-needed vacation time with the fam!) Now that I have things back under control (hehe)...

The vernal equinox occurs Monday morning at 5:29am CDT, and not a moment too soon! Monday should also be our first day this year in which everyone gets to 80° or higher. And all the people said...

Tuesday will be a reprise of Monday, though a front dropping into the northern sections of the Mid-South will mean a few storms for those close to the TN/KY border, a few of which could be strong as a large (cool) high pressure area pushes on the front from the north. Look for more low 80s and likely dry weather in the metro.

The cold front will drop south into the I-40 corridor Tuesday night and push to our south by Wednesday, bringing some of that cooler air to the north into the region with it. The dynamics of the system will have weakened and, with little upper support, scattered showers are the worst we can expect Tuesday night and perhaps early Wednesday. However, temperatures will be about 20° cooler Wednesday with lingering clouds and a north breeze. Highs will be in the lower 60s.

The NWS surface map for Tuesday evening shows an east-west front laid out across the Mid-South with cooler Canadian-based air behind it pushing slowly south into Wednesday. This will lead to scattered showers and a cooler day on Wednesday locally. (Hey, I can't use all GIFs and retain any credibility, right??) (NOAA/WPC)

Thursday should be a nice "in-between day as the front returns north with nary a peep. It'll allow wind to return to the south which should help push those temperatures back into the 70° range, making for a downright pleasant day. That wind gets stronger heading into Thursday night and Friday as a developing weather-maker in the Plains cranks up. We won't see the effects of it directly under Friday night at the earliest, so most of your day Friday should be windy and warm with very low chances of rain. Highs will be into the 70s. We might be aiming a little low at 72°.

The Plains system moves east Friday night with a cold front moving through early Saturday based on latest model data, which can be iffy that far out this time of year but could bring some strong storms. We'll be watching...

It does appear that an upper level low pressure trough could linger into the weekend over the area though, even if the front moves through, which may provide more more clouds and scattered showers into the weekend, as well as cooler temperatures. Prepare for the possibility of an "unsettled" first weekend of spring. Here are details on the week ahead:

Erik Proseus
MWN Meteorologist

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