A beautiful September weather day. That continues the next few days. Rain again by Sunday though.
It's been a stunning weather day across the Tennessee Valley on our Thursday. Northerly winds have brought in cooler and drier air behind a cold front across the area, keeping our afternoon temperatures today only in the upper 70s and lower 80s. With the mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies to add to that, it's been a great day to get outdoors for a bit to enjoy the weather. The good news is we expect at least reasonably nice weather to continue for at least a couple more days around here.
Temperatures will drop quickly by radiational cooling after dark, thanks to the clear skies and dry air in place. By 10:00-11:00, many of us will already be well down into the low to mid 60s, and by daybreak on Friday, the majority of us are in the mid to upper 50s. A few southern middle Tennessee communities may get as low as 53 to 54 degrees for a morning low! Talk about an early preview of fall... We will have a bit more in the way of cloud cover for Friday, but there will still be sun, and we look to stay dry. Afternoon highs should top out in the low to mid 80s areawide.
Things start to change a bit as we head into the weekend though. Saturday still looks alright. We will be partly cloudy again with highs in the mid 80s. However, later Saturday night and especially on Sunday, the next cold front approaches from the northwest. Moisture increases ahead of that front, and it looks like we have a decent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Sunday. It won't be an all day rain, but just be aware that there will likely be scattered areas of rain and storms around at times. That cold front moves through, and by Monday, we are back to clearing skies as high pressure builds in behind the cold front.
Hurricane Larry out in the open Atlantic is the main show in the tropics right now. Larry is expected to significantly intensify into a Category 4 major hurricane over the next few days. Forecast models out in the extended range have begun inching westward with Larry's track, but the system is still expected to take a northerly turn and not be a direct threat to the United States. We will be watching carefully for any changes to that expectation.