The rain is here, the cold is not far away

It has been a mostly cloudy, but mild afternoon around the region. We wound up in the middle to upper 50s in most areas, about 10 degrees above normal.

Showers are approaching the area from the southwest and will make our late-night and early Wednesday morning commute a wet one.

A rumble of thunder or two can’t be ruled out, but the chance for storms is small. In addition, it will also be breezy, so be careful in the high-profile vehicles as you head out to the holiday travel destinations.

With the warm front well to our northeast, temperatures tonight will be steady and mild, we’ll only drop into the upper 40s to lower 50s.

Tomorrow, the cold front swings through the region and triggers some showers and isolated storms early. The rain tapers off by the afternoon. The high will be set early in the day and will push 60 degrees, with some areas able to reach that relatively lofty mark before the much colder and drier air invades the region. By the evening, temperatures will fall into the 30s and 40s.

There will be a small chance for showers as well, and with temperatures continuing to fall, some of the precipitation could fall as snow late Wednesday night.

Lows will be in the mid to upper 20s.

With the cold air in place, Thanksgiving Day will be a cold one, with highs in the 30s. At least there will be sunshine! If you headed out to work off that holiday meal, be sure to bundle up! The very cold air stays with us for a couple of days, and if you’re headed out to get those big holiday season bargains, it will be another coat and gloves type of morning. Before temperatures rebound a bit later in the forecast, Saturday morning will be very cold again, with lows in the upper teens and highs to start the weekend only around 40 degrees.

The chance for rain and snow returns on Sunday. Most of what we see will fall as rain on Sunday. The chance for snow will mainly be confined to the higher elevation locations, but some other areas will pick up snow as well. Unfortunately, freezing rain is also a possibility on Tuesday morning, with temperatures below freezing at the surface but above freezing just above the surface. Temperatures will stay below normal throughout the latter half of the extended forecast.