Happy Wednesday everyone! Making the turn toward the weekend in style!

We've got some comfy skies on tap today, and tomorrow's not looking bad either. Expect a mix of Sun and clouds today, and slightly better skies Thursday. Have a look at the surface map for the day:

HPC - Wednesday PM	GFS - Wednesday PM

...I also put the 700mb Chart up on the right as well. This is the one that is great for indicating where the humidity/water-content in the sky is. Notice how there are two working conveyor belts of wet and dry air spiraling in and around the center of circulation. As we've been saying for the past few days, and now becomes reality, we get to be in the "dry slot" of this system-- giving us above normal temperatures and pleasant skies. Enjoy.

Things change dramatically this weekend. Another frontal system approaches, but this is the one we've been previewing with the much colder shot of air behind it. Though there will be umbrella-worthy showers that will need to be considered, it will be more remembered for the drastic turn-around of the temperatures. Here's how the GFS is currently handling it:

GFS - Friday PM	GFS - Saturday PM	GFS - Monday AM

Rain may hold off through most of the day Friday (and we'll even start with sunshine), but after that point, all bets are off. Temperatures will fall through the afternoon Saturday leading to the coldest weather thus far this season. Notice the 0-degree line on these maps (yes, it's for temperatures 5,000ft up, but it's still cold nonetheless). All those black lines are tightly packed, indicating a quickly changing scenario. Sunday and Monday mornings will drop into the 30s, while afternoon highs will struggle into the 50s.

Here's the current prognosis for.... snowfall:

GFS - Snowfall Projection

This will be the first shot across the bow for winter weather. The northern Appalachians are looking to pick up their first flakes, but more importantly a snowpack begins to form in the Hudson Bay area. (This is a good precursor to getting even more cold air down our way, as snowpack reflects more sunlight, and winds blowing across it retain more cold air as it heads southward). Eventually we'll get the flakes in town, but not this time. ;-)

Oh yeah, here's a look at how our temperatures nose-dive this weekend:

GFS - Max Temps - Friday	GFS - Max Temps - Saturday	GFS - Max Temps - Sunday

From the upper 70s down to the mid 50s... There's even a high in the upper 30s to be found on the map (first time for that this year). Bundle up!

Regional Radar/Satellite with Warnings Tracking	Accuweather Radar

From the Storm Prediction Center (below): Click For a Larger Image

Activity Overview	Storm Outlook	Watches	Potential Watches	Storm Reports

Temperatures	HD Doppler Radar	Estimated Rainfall	Active Warnings
Click For Larger	Click For Interactive Radar	Click For Larger	Click For Larger

Have a great day everyone!

-B

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