INTO EASTER WEEKEND: Warmer weather will be in store heading into the holiday weekend, but some showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast especially for Easter as a new storm system moves into the state at that time. Today we will see plenty of sunshine with readings in the 50s and 60s across the state. Saturday will be equally as sunny however an isolated thunderstorm in the northwestern quarter of the state can’t be ruled out later in the afternoon. Highs will range from the upper 60s in the north through the 70s elsewhere. Easter Sunday looks rather wet and stormy with showers and thunderstorms around. Some sunrise services may get by without rain but it’s about 50-50 at this point. Readings look to be in the upper 60s to the middle 70s.

HOPPING ON TO NEXT WEEK: We may see some early day showers in the eastern half of the state on Monday with slowly clearing skies into the afternoon hours. Highs will be the same as on Easter Sunday with upper 60s to middle 70s. Tuesday will be bright and sunny with readings in the 60s to lower 70s. Wednesday and into Thursday another storm approaches from the west. This will give us some showers and thunderstorms in two rounds. One will come Wednesday with a warm front. It’s too early to determine any chance of severe weather at this time with this round, but we’ll keep watching it. Readings will be in the upper 60s northeast to near 80s southwest with partly sunny skies outside the thunderstorm risk. Thursday, the front will draw closer and more chances of showers and thunderstorms will be possible. It is becoming more and more likely that there could be some severe weather on this day, but we need to continue to monitor trends before this is set in stone. Several parameters have been showing some decent possibilities, but we’ll wait a few more days to get a clearer picture. Friday is also looking wet as well but severe weather chances are not likely at least at this time.

THE EXTENDED IF I MAY ASK?: The extended period continues to look active as we head out of the month of April into May. One storm around the 28th of April and the 1st of May could have the potential for severe weather but it’s way too early to determine that risk this far out. We’ll have to watch trends in the coming days just like the system next week before pinpointing a threat down. Following the storm at the end of the period, we could see what could be our lost frost of the season in our northeastern counties, but given that it’s more than two weeks out, we’d have to see if this trend continues, otherwise readings look to remain near seasonal levels through the period.

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