[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWoCZIK8WTs&w=480&h=360]
DRYING OUT AND COLD: The storm system that brought the heavy rain across the eastern counties and the snow across the northwest will be moving on to the northeast. A few lingering rain and snow showers will be possible across the eastern counties mainly in the morning into the afternoon hours but shouldn’t amount to a whole lot. Temperatures will be well below average with readings in the upper 30s to middle 40s across the state with clearing skies from west to east. Tonight will see partly cloudy skies with lows down into the 20s to near 30. Saturday some warmer air begins returning but readings still will range from the mid 40s north and northeast to mid 50s south and southwest.
ANOTHER STORM: The next system comes in pieces but doesn’t look as fierce as this last one. The first piece comes in Saturday night into Sunday mainly targeting areas along and north of US Hwy 20 with some rain, possibly mixed with snow Saturday night changing to all rain Sunday. Sunday night into Monday could bring some more rain across the north and northwestern counties, with the main activity holding out until Monday night with some showers and possible thunderstorms. Cold air will be in play again and some of the precipitation may mix with snow as it ends during the overnight hours into Tuesday morning. At least a half inch up to an inch is possible with this system Sunday-Tuesday morning, which could exacerbate the flooding ongoing in the eastern and southeastern counties of the state. Cold weather returns following the storm with readings back into the 40s and 50s for highs. Wednesday night may see a weak disturbance move through that could bring a cold rain or a wintry mix around, but it’s expected to be light.
MOVING ALONG: The cold weather doesn’t look to go away at least until the 28th or 29th when temperatures may shoot to and above seasonal averages. At this time it may be somewhat safe to begin planting as that will be very close to the average last frost of the year, but not before. Perhaps a system in the first few days of May could bring more rain at that time but no real confidence at this time.