Tracking widespread morning rain, afternoon round of storms Thursday

TONIGHT: Increasing clouds and mild with lows in the upper 40s.

TOMORROW: Widespread rain by early morning, followed by a round of afternoon storms. Gusty winds with highs near 60.

EXTENDED: Thin, high clouds begin to move in tonight ahead of a warm front that lifts in from the southwest tomorrow. We'll see showers along that front by early tomorrow morning, starting near the lake around daybreak, then moving to the north through late morning. As the front settles to our north, we'll be in what's called the warm sector of the system, allowing for strong winds to pick up from the south ahead of the cold front. We'll reach near 60 degrees and have a bit of a lull in precipitation from about 10 or 11:00 a.m. Through early afternoon. Another round of storms could develop ahead of the cold front by early afternoon, bringing another round of measurable rain and embedded thunderstorms that could produce a few strong wind gusts. The overall severe threat is limited despite ample amount of wind shear thanks to the lack of instability. The only thing that could really increase the potential for more severe storms with a wind or tornado threat would be breaks in the clouds that would allow more sun to make the atmosphere more unstable, which isn't looking likely due to the morning wave of rain. The southern half of the area is still in a level 1 risk for severe through Thursday evening. We could see a few post-frontal showers late Thursday night as the cold front finally moves east, with chillier air returning for Friday. By Friday night, a second wave brings a shot at cold rain and/or light snow showers as a less potent low pressure system circles the area, with some snow flurries lingering into early Saturday among the clouds. The weekend is looking chilly with highs hovering around 40 Saturday, and upper 30s on Sunday. Next week starts off mild near 50, but a dry cold front will bring us back to near 40 by mid-week.