First Warning Forecast | Rain Is Already Here, Winds Are Coming

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - The rain moved in this morning, and from here through the evening we’ll be tracking periods of steady showers with a few garden-variety rumbles of thunder. We’re not too concerned about a severe weather threat today anyway, as the clouds conspire to keep available storm energy to a minimum (as it keeps getting spent in ‘garden-variety’ bits). Nevertheless, we’ll be expecting between 0.5″ and 1.0″ of rain by tomorrow morning-- more if you catch one of the rumblers in the mix. Temperatures will hold in the 50s for much of the day in these showers, creeping into the lower 60s tonight. The winds themselves will be fairly ‘normal’ today, about 20-25 mph out of the south in any afternoon lull. Speaking of lulls, we’re anticipating a brief let-up this evening in advance of our strongest storm line coming at us in the overnight, but that will be a bit of a moving target. Today and tomorrow’s weather is perfect for downloading and using our free mobile weather app, as you’ll need to have that moment-by-moment coverage in order to take advantage of any brief opening for rain-free skies. The strongest phases of this storm system will come through tonight and tomorrow, and it looks a lot like what we went through last Saturday...

A line of severe weather will develop just east of the Mississippi River this afternoon and plow eastward with a nationally headlining threat for winds and tornadoes, but by the time this line reaches us (after midnight), it will have fallen on harder times and wont be bringing the same level of alarm. Regardless, it can still channel some gusts as they come through, so the predawn hours can experience brief gusts of 40mph or more, slackening back down after that line departs. During the day Saturday we’ll see sunshine re-emerge, but that becomes trouble for us in the midst of this strong storm system still swirling overhead. In this slot of dry air, the sunshine will mix violent winds aloft down to the surface, forcing us to contend with gusts in the 50-60mph range. Use last Saturday’s experience as a guide to what’s possible this time around, and be prepared. Saturday is not the day for outdoor activities in wooded areas, and even events in open fields (thinking about soccer and softball) may well be spent in near-comical gametime winds but without the usual game canceling weather aspects of rain or lightning. Eventually clouds return to the region, as the winds wrap-around out of a cold northwesterly direction. Temperatures can spike as high as 70° in those afternoon winds, yet drop through the 40s not long after sunset. A few showers will scatter up late Saturday, but because the winds cut back just enough (30-40mph) Saturday evening, you can still try to get out to evening events -- if the power’s still on. By Sunday morning, church-goers will encounter lighter winds but temperatures all the way back down into the 30s.

Things to turn around after that point. Palm-Sunday pictures can be taken in afternoon sunshine, though high temperatures struggling in the 50s will probably be tough on those springtime dresses. Sunshine continues on Monday though, this time seeing temperatures push back toward 70-degrees. The milder weather continues into mid-week, though we will start flirting with a few showers, Wednesday in particular.

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