Warmer today, and then a quick cold blast arrives. Warmer and wet next week.

It is a beautiful late January day across the Tennessee Valley. Temperatures have been able to climb into the lower 50s for several locations this afternoon with a good deal of sunshine. Don't get too used to this though. There are big weather changes on the way over the next 24 hours.

Clouds will gradually increase as we head into the evening hours. This is associated with a cold front that will mainly come into the area in dry fashion overnight. However, we can't rule out a stray snow flurry or two the first half of Friday as the upper-level system swings through. No big deal from this, but it might be fun to see for the few that get to experience it. After being in the lower 50s today, Friday will be a shock to the system again with afternoon highs only in the mid to maybe upper 30s.

Despite returning to sunshine, Saturday will be a cold day as well. We begin the day in the mid to upper teens and only take it in the mid to upper 30s again by afternoon. We do start to see more of a southwesterly wind beginning Sunday, and that allows us to warm into the upper 40s to near 50 degrees. The real moderating trend starts next week as we head toward the mid 50s for the first half of the week, and maybe even the lower 60s at some point by midweek.

That warmer weather will be accompanied by a very dynamic storm system that moves through our area sometime between late Wednesday and Thursday. Widespread heavy rain and some embedded thunderstorms are likely, and we may have to start looking into the potential for some localized flooding with the system. However, despite how the system "looks" on the weather maps in terms of jet structure, low pressure placement, etc., instability (fuel for storms) should be too limited for any real risk of severe storms in our immediate area. That might be possible off to the south, closer to the coast. We will be watching carefully in the coming days. After this system moves through, it looks like we return right back to colder weather for the end of next week.