DELMARVA FORECAST
Tuesday night: Cloudy skies with a low chance of a stray shower. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Wednesday: Cloudy with a few rain showers, mostly in the afternoon. Highs in the mid to upper 50s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Thursday: Scattered showers. Unseasonably mild. Breezy, with winds from the southwest gusting to 25 mph or more at times. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Friday: Scattered showers, especially in the morning. Unseasonably mild. Highs in the mid to upper 60s. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a few stray showers in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Sunday: Rain and wind likely. Highs in the low 50s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Monday: Partly cloudy and cooler. Highs in the mid 40s.
FORECAST DISCUSSION
Normal high: 45°F. Normal low: 28°F.
Today has been the real transition day between the bitter cold of the weekend and unseasonable warmth of late week.
We'll be sandwiched between high pressure to our southeast, and high pressure to our north. This will guide several impulses of energy from the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Mid-Atlantic, bringing mainly unseasonably warm, but unsettled weather on Delmarva for the second half of the week.
Rain chances will be very scattered Wednesday through Friday, and are expected to be rather showery in nature, rather than with thunder. Our best chance for more widespread showers will come on Thursday and again Friday morning.
We'll see mostly cloudy skies on Saturday with just a low chance of a stray shower, but a more potent storm system could threaten Delmarva with heavy rain on Sunday. This event is still nearly a week out, so confidence in the timing is low, but it does look like unfortunately, we should expect a cloudy weekend with rain chances. Current guidance is that the central low pressure with this storm will track to the west of Delmarva, so this will be a rain event for the peninsula.
The other big story is the unseasonably warm temperatures that will arrive with the rain chances. Temperatures reach the mid 50s by Wednesday, then mid 60s on Thursday and upper 60s on Friday. Chillier temperatures are likely after whatever becomes of Sunday's storm.
The long-term 8-14 day outlook has temperatures averaging above normal and precipitation below normal for January 30 - February 5.