Tracking warm air and daily rain chances
TODAY: Some light showers are passing us to our north early this morning, but should leave most of us dry. We'll keep a chance for a sprinkle in and north of Columbia this morning, but rain is unlikely. Some clouds in the morning will clear by the afternoon to reveal a mostly sunny sky. This and a stout breeze from the south will up temperatures into the low 80s.
TONIGHT: After what will likely be the warmest and brightest day this week, clouds move in overnight. This initially will have a warming effect. Acting like a blanket, and pairing with south winds, these clouds will help keep us in the 60s through Tuesday morning.
EXTENDED: A trough of surface low pressure to our west will keep our low level winds from the south through the week. This will keep us in the 70s daily, and in daily chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Not every day will be a washout. Best chances will come on Thursday, as the low level winds move closest, and the best moisture fills in. The low pressure center then begins to near on Friday and may try to pass as a cold front. Timing on this is uncertain and a common solution in the data is to stall the cold front and keep it around into the weekend. We will for now keep rain chances in the forecast through Sunday. Warmth is a common theme this week, but much cooler air will await on the other side of the front, and may arrive this weekend, or into early next week, again depending on the speed of the front. The current forecast is for lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s on Saturday and Sunday, with cooler air possible into early next week. This will certainly change and be refined, so get daily updates to the forecast.
