Quieter and cooler weather returns for now. A preview of spring next week!
Skies have been clear on this Friday after a stormy Thursday, but temperatures have been on the chilly side. Highs today were only in the upper 30s and lower 40s. Rain has shifted out of the area and off the East Coast with the cold front that brought the severe storms yesterday, but there are some snow showers to our north over eastern Kentucky into the Ohio Valley. These will stay off to our northeast and out of our area.
Skies stay clear tonight, and with the dry air in place and wind becoming lighter after midnight, temperatures will drop. We expect overnight lows by daybreak to be in the mid to upper 20s for most everyone. I wouldn't rule out metro areas staying closer to 30 though, especially on the Alabama side of the line. I also wouldn't be surprised if we see some isolated lower 20s in the naturally colder valley spots across southern middle Tennessee.
Saturday will be a nice weather day across the Tennessee Valley! Expect mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies through much of the day, although clouds increase a bit during the afternoon and toward evening. Daytime highs will be noticeably warmer though, in the low to mid 50s for everybody! Not nearly as cold tomorrow night as winds become more southerly and clouds increase. We're only talking about upper 30s to lower 40s for overnight lows Saturday night.
Even warmer weather is expected for Sunday as high pressure shifts off to our east and winds become more southerly to southwesterly. Daytime highs reach the upper 50s to lower 60s. We're in the 60s by the start of the week, and we're running quickly toward the 70s by Tuesday into midweek. A few showers and thunderstorms become possible by midweek as well.
We look to see a full on taste of spring by the middle of next week with a ridge of high pressure building in just our south as low pressure troughing sets up across the western United States. That means above average temperatures here. Daytime highs Wednesday and Thursday will be at least in the mid to upper 70s, and I wouldn't be shocked if north Alabama sees their first 80 degree readings of the year! That trough/ridge configuration across the country also means an active jet stream pattern across the middle of the nation. It looks like the main jet stream energy stays off to our northwest this time though. As of how it looks now, that should reduce any severe storm chances for our local area next week, but we will be watching carefully!