DELMARVA FORECAST
Thursday night: Increasing clouds with rain after midnight. Winds south at 5-10 mph. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Friday: Periods of rain. Mild. Winds southwest at 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph. Highs in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 90 percent.
Saturday: Lingering rain showers early in the morning, then becoming mostly sunny. Cooler and breezy. Highs in the upper 40s.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Highs around 50°F.
Monday: Mostly sunny and mild. Highs in the low 60s.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 50s.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the low to mid 50s.
FORECAST DISCUSSION
Normal high: 46°F. Normal low: 28°F.
As the drought situation on Delmarva has worsened in Thursday morning's drought monitor update, we are expecting a healthy, soaking rain for Delmarva on Friday.
Clouds will increase over Delmarva Thursday evening, although if you have evening plans, you should stay dry. Rain will overspread the peninsula after midnight as a warm front stalls over the region.
Friday is shaping up to be a washout of a day, with periods of rain on-and-off pretty much all day. The rain will help to put a dent in our drought, though. Forecast guidance is suggesting anywhere from ½ to 1 inch of total rainfall by the time the rain ends early Saturday morning.
The rain ends with a cold front swinging across Delmarva early Saturday. Timing suggests that the rain will end by sunrise and skies quickly clear, becoming mostly sunny by midday. It'll be cooler, though, with highs in the upper 40s.
A series of dry cold fronts will cross Delmarva for the first days of February, making for a difficult temperature forecast. I'm expecting dry weather through the middle of next week, but we'll see big fluctuations in temperatures, from the low 60s on Monday, to low 50s on Tuesday. However, in the grand scheme of things, these temperatures are all above normal for this time of year, so we won't see any bitter cold like we've seen for much of January.
Longer-range guidance is suggesting a return of rain chances for the second half of next week, but we're not seeing much agreement in timing and placement of rain chances.
