"Back Door" Cold Front

A "back door" cold front is making progress through the Commonwealth this Tuesday, generally tracking from the north-northeast to the south-southwest (hence, the name, "back door"). Temperatures are falling behind the front with the northeast wind shift into the upper-50's and low-60's. In addition, skies are becoming mostly cloudy with this system, and scattered light rain showers are tracking south. Here is the surface map at 12:42 p.m.

And here is the visible satellite image from about the same time:

You can see how temperatures have warmed with mostly sunny skies into the low-70's ahead of the front, whereas northern Virginia temperatures have been significantly impacted by the northeast wind, the cloud-cover, and the light rain. This front will be south of the Commonwealth by early this evening, keeping us mostly cloudy and cool overnight. Showers will continue to be possible from later this afternoon through the evening. Even though cloud-cover will gradually decrease through the day Wednesday, temperatures will still be cooler as a result of this cooler air mass moving into the Mid-Atlantic. Surface high pressure over the South will expand back into the Mid-Atlantic Thursday and Friday though, returning highs into the 70's.

A Brief Shift In The Weather Pattern

Temperatures for the past couple weeks have been way above normal across most of the Mid-Atlantic.

We aren't the only ones dealing with the heat. Check out temperature departures across the United States. You can see the most of the eastern half of the U.S. has been toasty while the western half has been cooler than average.

We are still watching for a brief transition in the weather pattern during the next couple weeks. NAO will dip below zero, which typically means near or below average temps.

You can spot the impact on next week's temperature forecast. Though it looks like this might not last long. We could be headed towards another warming period by the start of May!

Beautiful Start To Weekend!

After a strong cold front swept through Central Virginia last night (see severe weather reports here), rain is ending early this Friday morning and skies are also clearing from west to east.

Here's the visible satellite image at 7:30 a.m.:

High temperatures this afternoon will be about 20 degrees cooler than recent days, but that merely puts our temperatures back to average for this time of April. With clear skies overnight, lighter winds, and drier air, a cold start to both Saturday and Sunday mornings is expected, with lows dipping into the upper-30's and low-40's. No other significant chances for precipitation are in the forecast over the next week. A weak cool front will slide south into the Commonwealth Monday and Tuesday, bringing more cloud cover and reinforcing cooler air to the region.