Weather! A lackluster start to the weekend

A backdoor cold front sliding into Virginia this morning, along with a thunderstorm complex moving out of West Virginia will make Saturday a busy weather day. By Sunday, though, the precipitation clears out, replaced by mild temperatures and gorgeous weather.

May 5, 2012; 5:51 AM • by Weather Dan

Warm air ahead of a backdoor cold front draped across Virginia is going to be the focus of some showers and thunderstorms to kick off the weekend. While it’s not ideal, conditions should improve once we get Saturday under our belt.

Saturday: Clouds are expanding along from the west this front this morning. A mesoscale convective system (MCS) – a large, organized thunderstorm complex – has moved into Kentucky and West Virginia overnight, and clouds from the leading edges of this system are moving east into the mountains of Virginia early this morning. The good news is that most of the showers are not going to make it over the Blue Ridge. The bad news is that it’s going to be a pretty crappy way to start a Saturday, especially as some fog settles in this morning. It’s going to be a warm start to Saturday, too; the low clouds are keeping temperatures in the upper 60s this morning. Temperatures should return to the mid 80s as the fog burns off. Look for showers/thunderstorms to develop this afternoon as remnant instability from that MCS finally makes its way east and triggers some rain across central Virginia. Those will clear out late tonight as the cold front slides to the south and temperatures slip to near 60.

Sunday: High pressure and much cooler air will build in behind the front on Sunday; look for partly to mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid 70s. Unless there’s something lingering into early Sunday morning, I don’t think we’ll see any precipitation for the first time in several days. Temperatures dip into even cooler values Sunday night, sliding into the low 50s.

Monday: Monday’s looking mild as well, as weak high pressure remains in control. Look for partly sunny skies, highs in the mid 70s, and lows near 50.

Temperatures remain mild into next week, climbing to near 80 by Wednesday, when another cold front will swing through from the west, sending temperatures back into the 70s and bringing some more rain to the region. High pressure settles in behind the front, keeping beautiful weather and mild temperatures in the forecast into next weekend.

May 5, 2012 5:51 AM 0