DAYS 1-5 (DECEMBER 16-20)
An area of high pressure keeps our weather fair today. A quick-moving, potent low pressure area that originated in the Gulf of Mexico will fly north northeastward as an inside runner storm – one that has an inland track – bringing us a bout of wind and rain Sunday night into Monday. Ahead of it, a moistening east to southeast air flow will send clouds in tonight into Sunday, but other than a patch of drizzle or a couple “in-advance” rain showers, we won’t see much in the way of rainfall until after dark Sunday, with the most solid rain area coming through during the first 10 to 12 hours of Monday. As low pressure tracks west of the WHW forecast area, a dry slot will shut off the main rainfall and we may even see some breaks in the clouds for a while Monday afternoon before a trough of low pressure trailing the main low center swings through with more showery rainfall Monday evening. This system exits overnight and on Tuesday we’re left with upper level low pressure swinging through the region. This will keep it unsettled with a chance of additional rain showers, possibly mixed with snow in higher elevations as colder air starts to move in. By Wednesday, we’ll be in a dry northwesterly flow between evolving low pressure well offshore and high pressure nudging in from the Ohio Valley / Great Lakes.
TODAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 45-52. Wind N 5-15 MPH shifting to E.
TONIGHT: Clouds increase. Lows 32-39. Wind E under 10 MPH.
SUNDAY: Cloudy. A patch of drizzle or an isolated rain shower possible in the afternoon. Highs 47-54. Wind E 5-15 MPH.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Cloudy. Rain arrives, may be heavy at times overnight. Temperatures rise to 50-57. Wind SE increasing to 15-35 MPH with higher gusts, especially coast.
MONDAY: Overcast through midday with rain, heavy at times, and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy with additional rain showers during the afternoon but breaks of sun are also possible. Highs 57-64. Wind SE 15-35 MPH with gusts above 40 MPH inland and above 50 MPH coastal areas, shifting to SW.
MONDAY NIGHT: Variably cloudy. Passing rain showers possible evening. Lows 37-44. Wind SW-W 15-25 MPH, higher gusts.
TUESDAY: Variably cloudy. Chance of rain showers except mix/snow showers possible in some higher elevations. Highs 38-45. Wind W 15-25 MPH.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy. Lows 22-29. Wind WNW 10-20 MPH.
WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy. Highs 37-44. Wind NW 5-15 MPH.
DAYS 6-10 (DECEMBER 21-25)
A blocking pattern keeps low pressure over the ocean to our east and high pressure just to the west from the Winter Solstice to Christmas Day. This is generally a dry pattern with the only chance of precipitation limited to a few rain/mix/snow showers from weak disturbance or two moving through.
DAYS 11-15 (DECEMBER 26-30)
A little more active outlook in this time frame with more west to east flow and the ability of jet stream disturbances to move into the Northeast. Overall pattern still appears mild with no major cold in sight.