Tracking a warmer weekend and rain chances
TODAY: Wednesday starts with a chance for snow showers. These are expected to generally be light but a few isolated showers may be more productive bringing a quick dusting to a half inch at most and temporarily limiting visibility. Again, this is the exception, rather than the rule. Most of us will see a flurry if anything with no accumulation. Any accumulation from these more isolated showers will be confined to grassy and elevated surfaces. The snow may be exciting for some, but the cold will by far be the greatest impact today. We look for highs to not climb above freezing for many, with wind chills in the 20s most of the day. This will come as winds are forecast from the northwest, sustained up to 20 mph at times with gusts to 30 mph.
TONIGHT: Wind chill just gets colder tonight, with less gusts but continued winds around 10 mph from the northwest through about midnight, leaving feels like temperatures in the teens.
EXTENDED: Early Thursday morning will be chilly, even with winds dying down and clouds moving in. Expect lows in the teens, with wind chill values in a light breeze only a few degrees cooler. In the lull, winds will begin to shift easterly. This will be ahead of a warm front lifting into the region. Interestingly, this likely has quite the temperature spread in the forecast from north to south. Macon's high may be in the 20s, with some along I-44 to the lake area reaching the 50s. We'll be partly cloudy Thursday, but better cloud cover moves in south of the warm front over night into Friday. Showers look to begin at the soonest around late morning, but could delay into late afternoon. A big part of this will be where you live, as onset will be earliest in the west. So, a chunk of your Friday could be warm AND dry. We expect showers to fill in Friday night, with our best rain chances coming Friday night into Saturday morning. This won't be the cold front, likely, as we don't see a wind shift until Saturday night. Some showers may delay into Saturday morning, but there appears to be a decent chance of warm and dry conditions on Saturday, especially in the afternoon. Still, we'll have to watch the cold front for a few last showers. Exact timing is uncertain, but this general timeline is starting to see consensus. We look mild and mostly dry Sunday, with one more chance for rain before a slight cool down next week. Over the next week, rain totals could range from a trace to a half inch.
