Frosty tonight, tropical moisture later on

OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – It’s been a great day around the region, with plenty of sunshine and pleasant temperatures. It was a bit cooler than it should be this time of the year, though.

With the cool start to the evening, clear skies, dry air, and longer nights, temperatures tomorrow morning will be in the 30s in the Greenbrier Valley and in Pocahontas County. In Pocahontas County, a Frost Advisory is in effect from Midnight tonight until 9 a.m. tomorrow. Other areas could see patchy frost as well.

Tomorrow, the same dry air that will make it so cool tonight will allow temperatures to rebound nicely as the day goes on. By day’s end we’ll be in the upper 60s. There will be plenty of sunshine as well, so overall it will be a pleasant day to do anything outside. Tomorrow night will be cool again, but not as cool as it will be tonight.

The rest of the week looks similar to tomorrow in terms of the skies. There will be plenty of sun each day. Temperatures, meanwhile, will gradually rise into the upper 40s to around 50 degrees for the lows. Highs will rise into the lower 70s. A weak, moisture-starved front will push through on Thursday and will drop the temperatures a couple of degrees on Friday. Overall, we’ll be above normal on both ends of the temperature scale.

There is some uncertainty at the end of the forecast, thanks to a system that will develop over the Gulf and push towards the region. The National Hurricane Center says that the system has a good chance to develop into something towards the end of the week.

Exactly what it will develop into is the question. The American GFS has a hurricane coming ashore in Mississippi on Saturday morning. The European model, meanwhile, has a disturbance pushing into the same area along the northern Gulf Coast during the same time frame, but it will be a broad area of low pressure, not a hurricane. Either way, moisture from the system will be pulled into the area ahead of an approaching front and will bring chances for rain starting on Sunday and lasting through the end of the forecast.

How much depends on how strong the low from the Gulf becomes and where it goes. With the extra cloud cover and rain chances, temperatures fall slightly over the last day or two of the extended forecast.