Showers and thunderstorms ahead of a cold front are favored tonight through Saturday but the expected amounts will bring little relief to our current drought status.
Computer modeling suggests that, generally, only about a quarter to about a third of an inch of rain is likely in our area tonight through Saturday. The only exception would be those isolated areas where a heavy thunderstorm could dump higher amounts.
The good news is that every community should get some much-needed rain by Saturday evening. Not a lot, but some.
The probabilities are fairly low, but there can be a few isolated stronger thunderstorms on Saturday that could bring areas of brief heavy rain and strong wind gusts. The Storm Prediction Center has our area highlighted for a Marginal Risk (Level 1 on a scale of 1-5) of severe storms.
Storm and rain chances will decrease late in the day on Saturday and exit the region Saturday night. Cooler and dryer air will overspread the area on Sunday. We’ll have cooler and much less humid conditions by Sunday afternoon.
High pressure will return dry weather to the Valley. The current model setup indicates another dry pattern with seasonal temperatures will persist next week. Should this be the case, drought conditions will likely deepen during the week ahead.
