Tracking a warmer week with late week tropical rain chances

TONIGHT: Mostly clear and cool with lows in the upper 40s to low 50s.

TOMORROW: Mostly sunny and slightly warmer with highs in the low to mid-80s.

EXTENDED:  It will be a nice end to Monday with clear skies overnight and our last cool night of the week as lows fall into the lower 50s by morning. Tomorrow is warmer with abundant sunshine as highs get into the low to mid-80s. Wednesday is the hottest day of the week with winds shifting to the south as high pressure exits the region. We'll see high temperatures in the upper 80s. We'll begin to see clouds filtering in early Thursday as Tropical Storm Francine is expected to be a category 1 hurricane by Wednesday that starts tracking up from Louisiana in our direction. Any shift in the path will bring changes to the rain/cloud forecast from Thursday on into the weekend, but the general path of low pressure will bring bands of rain in by late Thursday through at least Friday. We could see anywhere from 0.5" to 1", with those higher totals focused in our southeast near I-44. With a blocking pattern setting up in the upper levels of the atmosphere, we could end up holding onto weekend clouds and perhaps some light rain through the weekend if the system has trouble exiting out of the Midwest/Ohio Valley. Temperatures will be just slightly cooler, especially on Friday as we only make the upper 70s.