The northeast winds that have been bringing us all this cold, damp Atlantic air are expected to shift to the north today, and the switch will begin to dry us out, finally.
Look for skies to begin to clear by mid-day, with sunshine returning in the afternoon and clear skies by sunset, forecasters say. Friday and Saturday, high-pressure will dominate, and we should be able to recharge our solar batteries for a few days before the next round of precipitation.
The airport lows Thursday night/Friday morning are forecast to reach 27 degrees. That's about 10 degrees below the average for this time of year, but well short of the records, which are closer to 20 degrees.
The interesting stuff comes Saturday night into Sunday morning, as another low-pressure system moves out of the Tennessee Valley and crosses the Carolinas. That will bring us precipitation, along with northerly winds dropping overnight lows to near 30 degrees. It's likely to mean a changeover to snow before it switches back to rain late Sunday morning. Forecasters put the chances at 50 percent for snow Saturday night, and 60 percent for a rain/snow mix Sunday morning.
"There might be light accumulations of snow during this time," forecasters said in their morning discussions. But forecast models differ on how much.
I can't see this as anything to worry about. With any luck, it will be winter's last gasp. Good. With the trees in bud, I'm done with winter. You?
(SUN PHOTO: Amy Davis, 1997)